SIR ASSIST THE MOVE TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Dr Winifred Ijomah, Director of the Scottish Institute for Remanufacture, recently spoke at a conference held by the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group (APSRG) and All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group (APMG). The conference in London was held as a follow-up to a remanufacturing report released by the two organisations last year. It was attended by around 70 delegates.
Dr Ijomah stressed the need for more awareness – including practical support from the Government – around remanufacturing in the UK.
“We are lagging behind the rest of the world – not just in developed economies, but developing ones as well. All of the major economies have identified product recovery as an enabler for future competitiveness.
“All of the major industrial regions have a national centre for expertise to forward their knowledge on product recovery including remanufacture, except for the UK. Expertise to exploit these opportunities in the UK is dispersed and is therefore ineffective.
“We have got the correct mix of skills, industry and workforce, and we have a good transport network. The key weakness is our current system; it prevents access to those opportunities. We’re manufacturing in a different environment than we were last century, but our systems have not changed, and they have got to.”
The full conference report can be read here: http://www.edie.net/news/5/Remanufacturing-UK-opportunity-for-industry-2015-policy-report/