Jóhannes Bjarki Urbancic Tómasson is here at the University of Akureyri, recording short talks on the circular economy and other environmental issues for the LOFTUM online school of the environment and climate project. Photo: Kristín Björk Gunnarsdóttir.
„Councils are at different stages of their environmental work. This isn't because they have different levels of interest in the subject, because so far I haven't met a single councillor who has no interest in implementing the circular economy. But of course, many aspects of environmental issues can be confusing for people. Environmentalism is a project that neither begins nor ends; it's cyclical. People simply need to jump on the bandwagon, and that can often be tricky. Not only do the local councils need to be involved, but the businesses in the respective local authority need to be involved too, and the general public needs to agree on certain basic principles of environmental issues. So, viewpoints need to be aligned for things to work out. But in general, I feel we are doing quite well in this area.
We are now implementing legislation that came into force on 1 January 2023, and I would argue that it has gone well and quite a lot has changed for the better since the start of the year. We want to call this new legislation The Circuit Laws, but they update older laws on waste management, health and pollution prevention and the recycling fee. These new laws are in line with what European countries have been working towards regarding the circular economy, making the best use of items and minimising waste as much as possible," says Jóhannes Bjarki Urbancic Tómasson, a biologist and specialist at the Environmental Agency.
Last week, he was recording six short talks on environmental issues, which will be available in the e-school of the LOFTUM environmental and climate project. In them, he focuses on the circular economy and environmental issues.
„In these talks, I generally discuss the circular economy, what it stands for and how it works. I discuss waste prevention and the project Together against waste. I also discuss the waste of food, plastic, textiles and electronic devices. The core theme of all this is how we can prevent waste from being created and what options are available. We don't want to end up burying or burning our waste; we want to reuse it," says Jóhannes.
„"In general, I believe that people, whether they are politicians or the general public, are very receptive to getting involved in environmental and climate issues. This is an area that people care about and think a lot about. Often, people don't know where to start, so it's very useful for local councils and those in management positions within them to have a conversation with us at the Environmental Agency to gain the confidence needed to make decisions for their local area. Companies are looking for innovative solutions related to the circular economy, and a so-called was recently established Circuit class, which is in various ways comparable to The Marine Cluster which has resulted in various by-products in fisheries that were not previously utilised. The Circuit Class is this a platform for companies that want to create innovative solutions in the circular economy. I work partly with The circuit class and we, who are involved in it, want to provide help and advice to everyone, both individuals and businesses, who are working on innovative solutions in the spirit of the circular economy. Let's not forget that the circular economy holds great value. By reusing items, there is no need to buy new raw materials, and that alone is incredibly valuable for society," says Jóhannes Bjarki.
News produced by Óskar Þór Halldórsson for the LOFTUM project