Circular economy 'could create more than 200,000 jobs' in the UK

The development of a circular economy could create more than 200,000 jobs across the UK by 2030, according to a new study by WRAP and Green Alliance.

The report entitled 'Employment and the circular economy: job creation in a more resource efficient Britain' was unveiled today (20 January).
According to the report, developing the UK's resource efficiency can "make a valuable contribution to improving Britain's labour market situation" and help address regional imbalances in unemployment.

Significantly, regions where unemployment is higher, such as the North East and West Midlands could see the greatest impact in job creation, especially among low-to-mid-skilled occupations where job losses are projected for the future, the report claims.

Reducing unemployment

According to the study, on the current circular economy development path, by 2030 the sector could require an extra 205,000 jobs, reduce unemployment by around 54,000 and offset 11% of future job losses in skilled employment.
The report also considers the potential geographical dispersion of jobs by circular economy activity. It states that reuse and open loop recycling are expected to remain the least geographically concentrated, followed by closed loop recycling, servitisation (business models that increase the life of products rather than using new ones) and biorefining (extracting valuable resources from biowaste), requiring activity across the country.

By contrast, remanufacturing is likely to be somewhat more concentrated and situated near to existing manufacturing sites, where "unemployment tends to be higher", according to the study. The development of the circular economy could create jobs for former employees of manufacturing industries in these areas, the report claims.

Read more: http://www.edie.net/news/5/Circular-economy-could-create-two-hundred-thousand-jobs-in-the-UK/

Must Environmentalists and Labor Activists Find Themselves at Odds With Each Other?

Can We Earn a Living on a Living Planet?

The need for jobs, and the ecological limits to growth

It has been a tough couple of years in the effort to unite labor, community, and environmental groups, an alliance that has always been strained.

The extractive energy sector—coal, gas, oil—has historically had strong union representation and well-paying jobs. Tensions rose in 2011 after the Sierra Club escalated their campaign to close coal plants and 350.org, the climate protection group led by activist Bill McKibben, called for a halt to the Keystone XL Pipeline project.  Even Obama’s relatively mild order this past June on reducing pollution from power plants was opposed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Mineworkers.

At a February 2013 meeting of labor and environmental activists, Damon Silvers, the AFL-CIO’s director of policy and special counsel, yelled and pounded the table, “Where is the transition plan for workers? Why isn’t this part of your demands?”

Divisions will increase in the coming years, as two competing urgencies collide. Labor and community justice organizations will demand jobs, economic growth, and reductions in inequality. And environmental activists will increase pressure to curtail fossil fuel production in the face of climate disruptions. Both the politics and the policies of these goals seem to diverge. But must they?

Read more: http://prospect.org/article/must-environmentalists-and-labor-activists-find-themselves-odds-each-other