The positive note came following Best Value inspections of 100 councils, mainly in England, where some good progress was found. But the Commission also warns that many local authorities have yet to come to terms with the implications of central government’s expectations for recycling on their current services. And, most of the councils it surveyed only ran a “fair” standard of service, with most unlikely to improve further.
The comments come in a Best Value document on Waste Management, published this morning. Andrew Foster, controller of the Audit Commission, said: “The management of waste is one of the key environmental concerns facing society and we all have a part to play in improving how we do this. Best Value inspections reveal many councils rising to the challenges of developing their strategies in this area, but the majority of authorities still have much progress to make. We are determined to use this and future reports to help drive forward improvement, by disseminating good practice from the best and highlighting other learning or trends.”
Kerbside collection
For councils to meet recycling targets “many need to take urgent and radical action to change the way they deliver their recycling schemes”. The Commission advocates looking at a range of service options which could help achieve the targets. These include kerbside collection of recyclables and green waste, and better use of recycling facilities at civic amenity sites.
Councils need to get the message over to residents that the environment counts when they introduce changes. The document says that councils are often reluctant to disrupt traditionally popular methods and patterns of service for waste collection – for example, switching to alternate weekly collection of recyclables and non-recyclables. But the Commission advises councils to keep their nerve and go out and win the support of residents. “Central government expectations, which involve challenging traditionally popular service provision, need to be made clearer and the addressed as a priority at the local level.”
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