How to build an even more sustainable Wales

CIWM Fellow Brian Royson Mayne identifies the links between waste management strategies and the overriding aims of sustainable development in Wales.

When people talk about Wales in terms of waste and resource management, they think of recycling. However, a key ambition in the country has always been sustainable development.

Many political policies and strategies have moved Wales from a linear economy to its present recycling economy; and the next stage is set to be sustainable, not just circular.

A sustainable Wales addresses the needs of the present while setting up future generations for further success.

It encompasses the pillars of sustainable development: economic, social, environmental and cultural – aiming for a balanced and equitable approach to progress.

A sustainable Wales

Wales aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and has a target to use only its ‘fair share’ of the Earth’s resources (‘one planet’ resource use).

The Government of Wales Act 1998 established the National Assembly for Wales, now known as Senedd Cymru, following the positive devolution referendum in September 1997.

It also represented a pivotal advancement by incorporating a constitutional obligation to foster sustainable development within the Act.

This duty required the Senedd to consider sustainable development in all its functions, laying the groundwork for future legislation like the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

In the same year, United Nations Member States shared a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

At its core are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs Figure 1), which address critical global challenges, such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and justice.

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act establishes seven well-being goals for Wales (Figure 2). These articulate and translate the 17 SDGs into the well-being goal (Table 1).

Waste and Resource Management is intrinsically linked to the groundbreaking well-being goals, particularly under the themes of a Resilient Wales, a Prosperous Wales and a Globally Responsible Wales.

They also have the potential to help achieve some, or most, of the SDGs as highlighted by various reports including Towards Zero Waste: a catalyst for delivering the Sustainable Development Goals.

As Wales moved away from the traditional ‘take-make-dispose’ model to a recycling economy, it attracted a great deal of attention due to its success.

Wales has a recycling rate of over 60% and is the world’s second-best recycling nation in the world. However, the Welsh Government recognises that it has to go further than recycling as identified by its strategy document Beyond Recycling.

Table 1: Example of the links between the Well-being of Future Generations and the Sustainable Development Goals.

They identify that this approach is key to the delivery of their obligations under the Well-being of Future Generations Act and the SDGs.

It promotes initiatives like advancing to a circular economy, reducing consumption, and enhancing recycling efforts which all align with the Act’s principles.

This builds upon previous waste strategies, such as the first launched in 2002 The National Waste Strategy for Wales; Wise about Waste (WAW), which was based on the initial Sustainable Development scheme; Learning to Live Differently.

WAW stated that its objective was to ‘Make Wales a model for sustainable waste management by adopting and implementing a sustainable, integrated approach to waste production, management and regulation…’

This was followed in 2010 by Towards Zero Waste, which was seen as providing a significant contribution to achieving a sustainable Wales as set out in the Sustainable Development Scheme One Wales: One Planet.

A sustainable environment, where the impact of waste in Wales is reduced to within our environmental limits by 2050. This means that waste production and management will only be at ‘One Planet’ levels.

Beyond Recycling details how Wales will deal with waste in a way that produces benefits for not only the environment but also for the Welsh economy and people’s well-being in Wales.

It is supported by the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, which sets the strategic landscape for Wales’s transition to a more circular economy and net zero.

A circular economy aims to keep products and materials in use without degrading their quality or downcycling into lower-valued products and instead emphasises closed-loop systems where materials are continuously cycled through the economy to the development journey.

It is an economy that focuses on reducing waste and maximising the use of resources by promoting practices like recycling, reusing, and repairing.

An approach aimed at reducing environmental impact and encouraging innovation and economic development is seen through initiatives, such as the CEIC programme. CEIC unites organisations across Wales to form collaborative networks for a sustainable future.

Other commitments set out by the Welsh Government, such as scaling reuse and repair hubs in up to 80 towns by next year, will have a significant impact on local communities, particularly by creating employment opportunities.

If repair and reuse practices increase by 25%, it is estimated by WRAP that 27,705 new jobs will be created.

I, like others such as Circle Economy, recognise the circular economy as a vehicle for Sustainable Development by addressing key challenges such as resource depletion, pollution, and climate change.

The UN Environment confirmed this by entering into an agreement with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to scale up and accelerate the shift towards a circular economy because they believed it was central to achieving the SDGs.

The Circular Economy can contribute to achieving SDGs, such as SDG12, which promotes responsible consumption and production.

A circular economy directly supports this objective by endorsing the efficient utilisation of resources, reducing waste, and encouraging sustainable consumption practices. Others, such as Schroder and Barrie, go further and cite that the circular economy can revive and accelerate the present SDGs.

However, there are many critiques of the circular economy that have challenged whether the circular economy and its business models are a pathway to sustainable development.

Dr Calvin Lakhan, in his article Broken Circles: 10 Critical Failures of the Circular Economy, points out several limitations of the circular economy, in delivering sustainability and concludes that ‘The path forward lies not in circular economy as currently practised, but in reimagining circularity as one element within a more fundamental ecological, social, and economic restructuring that truly respects planetary boundaries and human wellbeing’.

The recently published Future Generations Report 2025 highlights that whilst progress has been made in promoting a circular economy in Wales, it is not a central priority as economic policy continues to be based on growth and competitiveness used as core measures of success rather than the well-being of people and the planet.

I believe the way in which the circular economy is being developed and delivered in Wales, with sustainability being the overriding ambition, ensures that it addresses a number of these issues, in particular the social dimension which is often cited as missing from circular economy policies and practices.

I recognise that we face many challenges but, as the new Future Generations Report recognises, that although the challenges are significant, they are not insurmountable. The report highlights that much more needs to be done to address the climate and nature emergency we are in.

It identifies that solutions exist; we just need to address them. By prioritising economic growth that benefits both people and the planet, Wales can make the circular economy a cornerstone of its sustainable future.