Call for closer working between waste industry groups

The call for change came from Per-Anders Hjort, chief executive of French-owned SITA UK, who went on to praise UK recycling figures compared to those in France.

As an industry, in addition to protecting the environment and human health, we also have clear social responsibility.

 
Per-Anders Hjort, ESA

On the topic of trade associations, Mr Hjort said that the waste and recycling industry “still has too fragmented an approach in the way it works”.

During his year in office – which ended last Friday – Mr Hjort has advocated closer working between organisations in the sector and said that he “expects some results next year”. His successor as chairman – Richard Skehens, managing director of Grundon – is expected to follow up on the trade association issue.

In a wide-ranging speech at the association's annual luncheon in London last Friday (November 23), Mr Hjort also noted Britain is “getting there slowly in increasing recycling”. He added: “Even though I work for a French company, I actually believe that the UK is doing better than France, to be honest.”

Dialogue

On contracts with local authorities, Mr Hjort said that for the waste management industry, the new approach of competitive dialogue within contracts would be costly.

He said: “While I understand the reasoning behind breaking one fully integrated PFI financed contracts into three contracts, there is a downside. With this more time consuming approach and the introduction of competitive dialogue, delivery will take much longer and will cost more.”

The outgoing chairman also called for the Environment Agency to full recognise the industry's own internal controls and called for more trust. And, Mr Hjort highlighted the scheme brought in by the ESA to cover materials recycling facilities.

He said: “I am also very pleased to have seen the launch of the Recycling Registration Scheme during my chairmanship. This scheme monitors our recycling facilities and traces recyclates we export. With globally traded commodities, the scheme helps to ensure our exports are of the right quality and that our buyers comply with our environmental aims.”

Safety

The importance of improving health and safety performance within the waste sector, was highlighted by Mr Hjort, who made a point of saying that local authorities had also to ensure that they get fully involved in health and safety issues.

“As an industry, in addition to protecting the environment and human health, we also have clear social responsibility,” he said. “ESA works closely with the Health and Safety Executive to continuously improve the situation and we are improving year on year.

“To take this to the next level we need real commitment from others, and I am thinking mainly about local authorities. There needs to be much more emphasis on Health and Safety when they procure waste and recycling services,” said Mr Hjort.