Dear Colleagues,
As you know, the G7 World Leaders met June 6-7, 2015 and the final G7 Summit Declaration and Annex (see attached ) were made public, outlining the outcomes of the Summit. I have spoken to many of you since I first went to G7 workshop in March 2015 to discuss Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Materials Management, and I am pleased to see in both the Declaration and Annex specific reference to our March 2015 discussions and subsequent recommendations. Specifically, Summit outcomes include:
- A G7-Alliance on Resource Efficiency was formed to serve as a forum to share knowledge and create information networks on a voluntary basis including collaboration with large and small businesses and other relevant stakeholders to advance resource efficiency, promote best practices, and foster innovation;
- The G7 asks the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) International Resource Panel (IRP) to prepare a synthesis report highlighting the most promising potentials and solutions for resource efficiency; and
- The G7 invites the OECD to develop policy guidance supplementing the IRP synthesis report.
- The Summit Declaration’s Annex proposes a series of workshops on best practices to further resource efficiency.
I would like to work with you and your organizations to build on the momentum of the G7 Summit to advance Sustainable Materials Management and Circular Economy practices and approaches. It is imperative that we incorporate life cycle-based decision-making into our daily operations and initiatives. To this end, we would like to propose several potential collaborative actions to advance resource efficiency and sustainable materials management:
- Develop and share best practices related to the application of life cycle thinking and sustainable materials management in business and policy sectors. Best practices could serve to illustrate the business case for sustainable materials management and provide clear and convincing arguments grounded in sound science and economics; and
- Participate in a workshop to advance work under the G7 Resource Efficiency initiative. While some suggestions for workshops have already been proposed through the G7 Resource Efficiency Alliance, the US government, in cooperation with partners from the business, non-profit and academic sectors, would take a lead, or co-lead, in organizing a workshop on:
- Supply Chain Tools and Strategies including the use of life-cycle assessment to identify supply chain “hotspots” that offer significant potential to reduce supply chain impacts and increase return on investment, or the use of lean-management tools such as Value Stream Mapping to eliminate excess movement, materials and tooling to help create a more streamlined product flow.
As you well know, people are consuming material resources and producing waste at a greater scale than ever before and per capita consumption levels are projected to increase with continued development. (UN Environment Programme). For every 1% increase in GDP, resource use has risen 0.4%. (Accenture’s Circular Advantage).
Unsustainable consumption of natural resources and associated environmental degradation translates into increasing business risks through higher material costs and supply uncertainties or disruptions. Tragically, one half to three quarters of annual raw material inputs to industrial economies returned as waste to the environment within a year. (World Resources Institute). We continue to bury in landfills or burn recyclable commodities worth billions of dollars every year. For example, in the U.S. we bury nearly half of our aluminum cans in landfills valued at over $1 billion. On top of that, we pay to do so. For example: Alabamians pay $25 million to bury $193 million worth of materials. (SERDC)
Overall, the costs of pollution, ecosystem depletion and health impacts associated with the use of natural capital now exceeds $1 trillion per year for US companies (6.2% of US GDP) and roughly $3 trillion for global companies. (State of Green Business Report 2015).
Now is a time for action. By working together there is an opportunity to make significant strides to target work where environmental impacts are the greatest; build strong coalitions, communities and economies; provide national and international leadership; and demonstrate measurable results.
Mathy Stanislaus
Assistant Administrator
Office of Solid Waste & Emergency Response
