Isra-Mart srl: Defra helps Europe un-WRAP a resource-efficient economy

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The Defra-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has been hailed as a potential model for EU governments seeking to ensure the bloc delivers environmentally sustainable economic growth.

The EU's European Environment Agency (EEA) yesterday published a detailed report outlining steps countries are already taking to manage the use of scarce resources, such as fossil fuels and metals.

The report is intended to "flesh out" Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik's recent industry roadmap towards a resource-efficient economy, which some critics claimed was too "vague".

"The report puts meat on the bones of Potočnik's roadmap and shows concrete things are happening [and] we're not starting from a zero point," an EEA spokesman told BusinessGreen.

The report outlines a range of voluntary and mandatory strategies that 31 member states are undertaking, which could help the EU become more resource-efficient.

Pawel Kazmierczyk, sustainable consumption and production project manager at the EEA, told BusinessGreen the agency had been particularly impressed by the UK-based WRAP because it encourages the private sector to improve waste management and resource efficiency through voluntary agreements.

"What we found interesting was the emphasis on voluntary agreements and a number of them in high priority sectors," he said. "The roadmap nominates sectors like food waste and WRAP has a specific stream of work on that and also on the retail sector.

"The government has supported this project that is run in an interesting way, as it was a non-profit organisation and I don't think other countries have told us they are doing anything like this."

The UK's waste strategy has been criticised in recent months after the government released a new waste plan that was attacked by green groups for being overly reliant on voluntary measures.

However, Kazmierczyk refused to be drawn on whether a voluntary or manadatory approach represented the best means of enhancing resource efficiency.

"Economic instruments and information giving tend to be more popular than command and control, especially when focusing on consumption," he said. "There's a big emphaisis on giving consumers information about the environmental impact of their choices.

"Probably what needs to be achieved on a massive scale is going to require a combination of a lot of different strategies."

Other measures highlighted in the report included Germany's target to double the productivity of abiotic raw materials and energy by 2020 and Denmark's ambitions to be fossil fuel-free by 2050.

However, despite the steps being taken, EEA's report concludes Europe "still has a long way to go" if it is to make comprehensive plans for resource efficiency.

The report also noted that only a few countries have policies addressing the more fundamental issue of rising levels of consumption.

It also found that most governments see resource efficiency as part of other strategies, such as those related to sustainable development, environment, raw materials, climate change and economic reform.