The Department for the Economy has launched a public consultation on the draft Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland.

This draft strategy sets out a vision that by 2050, Northern Ireland will have an innovative, inclusive and competitive economy where business, people and planet flourish, with responsible production and consumption at its core.  It will be a key enabler of Northern Ireland's 10X Economic Vision for a decade of innovation.  

A circular way offers an economic model, that many countries are pursuing, in which:   

we rethink and reduce our use of earth's resources

we switch to regenerative resources

we minimise waste 

we maintain the value of products and materials for as long as possible.  

The Department for the Economy has worked together with all government departments to develop the draft strategy, in collaboration with external stakeholders from local government, the private sector, academia, the voluntary and community sectors and others. 

The overarching target is to halve Northern Ireland's annual material footprint per person to 8 tonnes by 2050. The draft strategy sets out how this can be achieved through; switching to materials that can be reused, increasing use of fuels that can be replenished, designing things to be kept in use for longer and reducing waste.  

The public consultation is open for 10 weeks until Monday 20 March 2023. There will be three virtual consultation events for members of the public who want to learn more about the draft strategy.

 These will take place on: 

Thursday 2nd February - 10.30am to 11.30am

Tuesday 7th February - 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Wednesday 1^st March - 6.30pm to 7.30pm

 The Department especially wants to hear from those across industry and the public sector who will be vital in making the change happen, as well as citizens whose everyday lives this change will ultimately affect. This is the public's opportunity to help shape the final strategy and next steps. 

The draft strategy is available at Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland | Department for the Economy (economy-ni.gov.uk), alongside supporting documentation including information on how to register for the virtual consultation events.