The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is focusing on resource security as part of its annual conference today (18 November).

Taking place at the 15Hatfields events venue in London, the Resources Limited conference will host a range of businesses, third sector organisations, and trade associations to debate how businesses can overcome threats to their global resource supply chains and operating resilience.

Delegates will hear from a range of speakers, including:

• Liz Goodwin, WRAP CEO, who will highlight the organisation’s current work;
• Steve Beaman, General Manager for UK & Ireland at electronics manufacturer LG Electronics, who will be demonstrating how adopting a circular economy model can work in a competitive marketplace; and
• Carmel McQuaid, Head of Sustainable Business at M&S, who will be sharing insights into the retailer’s sustainability plan, Plan A.

Other speakers include Sean Feeney, CEO of electrical recycling company Environcom; Fiona Disegni, Founder & CEO of clothing rental company Rentez-Vous; Kyle Wiens, CEO of repair manual business iFixit; and Baroness Scott of Needham Market, Chairman of the EU Sub-Committee on Environment, Energy, Agriculture and Fisheries at the House of Lords.

‘Safeguarding businesses and making better use of resources’

Speaking this morning, Goodwin said: “Today’s debate, about the pressures being created within businesses by resource issues, is not hypothetical or conceptual. You know it is real and pressing.

“The pressures created by resource constraints create very real financial and operating issues for any organisation...Today is about the action we can take in these areas. Part of this is about recognising that the current production and consumption model: make; use; dispose; make another, is broken… but in many cases, that level of awareness just doesn’t exist.”

Goodwin went on to outline that the circular economy, one in which resources are used, recovered and reused, must be brought to the fore, as “so much is needlessly lost forever at the moment”.

As such, she highlighted that WRAP is focusing its work on four “core areas”: food and drink (for example, through the Courtauld Commitments and upcoming Courtauld 2025 framework); electricals and electronics (for example, through the newly-launched Electrical and Electronic Sustainability Action Plan (esap); textiles (through the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan’s Extending the Life of Clothes Design Awards); and the built environment (through the Built Environment Commitment).

Charity status will ‘bury the urban myth that WRAP is a part of government’

Touching on WRAP’s move to become a charity, Goodwin said: “Our application is currently before the Charity Commission and we look forward to the outcome of that process.

“We will have more freedom to develop new ideas and new ways of working… I hope the way WRAP continues to develop will bury once and for all the urban myth that WRAP is a part of government. We very much value our work for government, but we are not part of it. In fact, that distinction is one of the reasons we can work with businesses in the way we do.

“We will continue to operate very much in the way we do now. You are not going to lose any of the elements – the value adding characteristics – that you value. Our focus for the future will definitely be the issues that I know are on your minds and which we will debate today.

“I want WRAP to work with you all to deliver changes that mean we can turn these challenges to commercial opportunities, and hand on the planet and economy in good shape.”

She concluded: “The more complicated we make products, the greater the proportion of their impact in manufacture. The more complicated a product, the more materials…And the more materials whose supply raises economic, environmental, social and political issues.

“We need to make better use of the products we have, and to make them better. This is not just about reaping environmental benefits. It is about safeguarding businesses, making better use of resources.

“We are looking at changing what we supply, how we supply, how we consume, and what we do with wastes and by-products throughout the life cycle. We know there are win-wins out there.”

Find out more about the Resources Limited conference.