The government is to launch an informal consultation next month on restricting waste wood from landfill in England in order to ensure more is re-used, recycled and sent for energy recovery.
Confirmation of the consultation,whichthe governmentcommitted to carry outduring 2012in its 2011 Waste Review (see letsrecycle.com story),came from recycling minister Lord Taylor who was speaking at the CIWM annual conference held in partnership with the ESA today (June 12).
LordTaylor said: We need to get to a position where landfill is the last resort in particular for biodegradable material like wood.
As part of our commitment in the waste review we plan to do an informal consultation at the end of July with a view to diverting the substantial tonnages of wood waste that end up in landfill to higher up the waste hierarchy.
MRF code
Lord Taylor added that a separate consultation would be held in August 2012 on the governments much-vaunted MRF code of practice. The code has been produced in partnership with industry to drive quality recycling and help reduce the illegal export of waste, the minister said.
Alongside the code of practice, the government is developing an Action Plan on Quality, which Lord Taylor said will include measures on exports and making the PRN/PERN system fairer. PRNs (Packaging Waste Recovery Notes) are recycling evidence notesissued by UK reprocessors which are bought by packaging producers to fulfil their packaging recycling obligations, while PERNs are their export equivalent and are issued for material which is sent abroad for recycling.
The move to make the PERN/PRN system fairer follows widespread criticism that the current system favours export over domestic reprocessing because PRNs can only be claimed for material which is recycled in the UK, whereas PERNs can be claimed against 100% of material that is exported (see letsrecycle.com story).
PRNs/PERNs
Lord Taylor said: We hope to launch a consultation in August [on the MRF code of practice]. We hope to launch an action plan on quality looking at exports and creating a level playing field for PRNs and PERNs.
Reflecting on the governments overall progress following the launch of the 2011 Waste Review, the minister said that a lot had been achieved from the announcement of new more ambitious packaging recycling targets to the launch of the responsibility deal between the waste sector and the government and the soon-to-be-announced voluntary agreement for the hospitality sector.
He said: Over 90% of the actions in the review are on track or completed.
Criticism
However, following his presentation the government and its waste strategy came under some criticism from industry and in particular CIWM chief executive Steve Lee.
Mr Lee said: A pat on the back for Defra for all thats been achieved under the waste policy review. However as Ray Georgeson from the Resource Association pointed out earlier maybe it is time for a review of the waste review.
We dont see much new policy or radical thinking pushing markets in the right direction. There is an attitude that its just enough to meet European directive targets. If the industry is to move forward we need long term vision. There is a lot going on in the devolved administrations. When Northern Ireland are reconsidering their waste strategy they will not be looking at Whitehall but looking at Scotland and Wales. From Defra we need more vision please, more leadership.
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