BIS to create waste champion role

The government has said it plans to give a championing role for waste and the bioeconomy to the BIS minister for business and energy, in response to recommendations from a House of Lords select committee today (June 18).

In addition, the government said it would create a steering group with industry and key stakeholders to coordinate the development of a bioeconomy for which waste will form a potentially important feedstock.

The announcements came in response to a Lords science and technology committee report published in March – Waste or resource? Stimulating the bioeconomy which said that government policy on waste lacks both coherence and certainty (see letsrecycle.com story).

In its response published today, the government said that it would make the Minister for Business and Energy currently Michael Fallon MP, who is also in charge of WEEE and ELVs its champion for waste and the bioeconomy.

According to the governments response, through its proposed steering group to be led by the minister, the government will “ensure the engagement and participation of other government Departments who own and manage a range of levers relevant to this opportunity, such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who lead on resource and waste management.”

Collections and guidance

Elsewhere, the Lords committee had also called for a more ambitious approach to waste collections and a more standardised system of waste collection across local authorities.

However, the government rejected these recommendations, responding today that the way that domestic waste is collected is a local matter for local councils and they will wish to listen to their residents.

It added that it would work with authorities and industry to promote good practice, but that the government recognises the wide variation of collection processes across local authority boundaries today makes this standardisation problematic.

The government also rejected a call from the Lords committee to produce guidance for councils on waste and recycling collections, stating: The government is not in favour of issuing new guidance unless there is a clear and immediate issue that needs to be tackled.

It also suggested that decisions on waste and recycling infrastructure should remain with local authorities, adding: local authorities are best-placed to decide on the most appropriate strategy for managing waste in their area and ensure that sufficient waste management facilities are in place.

Chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Lord Selborne, said: We are pleased that the government have embraced our principal recommendations and we look forward to the forthcoming long term plan for delivering and supporting a growing bioeconomy.

We will doubtless return to this topic in due course to check the government’s progress against the commitments they have made today.