Speaking at the Labour party conference in Brighton yesterday, the minister for local environment conceded: “Figures for this year don't look quite as promising on waste arisings as last year.”
” Indications look to be that there won't be another reduction in waste arisings this year.“
– Ben Bradshaw
Mr Bradshaw said it was “too early to say for sure”, but explained: “From what I am hearing around me, indications look to be that there won't be another reduction in waste arisings this year.”
Council waste management results for 2003/04 included the first ever recorded reduction in waste arisings. The general trend prior to this was for the generation of household waste to grow by about 3% year on year.
Experts in the local authority sector suggested the fall in 2003/04, which roughly amounted to a reduction of 1.2 million tonnes on the previous year, could have been just “one year of good fortune” (see letsrecycle.com story). It was suggested that a dry summer in 2003 generated lower tonnages of green waste.
Yesterday saw Mr Bradshaw chairing the Environmental Services Association-organised fringe event, which focused on the priorities for the review of Waste Strategy 2000.
Charging
Commenting on the review, Mr Bradshaw confirmed that the government was considering the issue of variable charging – the charging of householders for the amount of waste they produce.
The minister said: “We will be considering variable charging as part of the review. The issue is maintaining sensitivity. We do not want to penalise large, less well-off families. If someone can come up with something on this, it would be good to hear.”
Mr Bradshaw has held the recycling brief since May, but admits he is still getting to grips with waste issues. He said he had been shocked recently when visiting a recycling facility in Greenwich to find that it was taking material from his home city of Exeter.
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