CIWM in support as DEFRA hints direct charging is on review agenda

And, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has accepted that direct charging is likely to be one idea that comes out of the PIU report.

A DEFRA spokesman said: “It is difficult for a department to respond to a report that hasn't actually come out yet. This is just probably one of the many different ideas that will come out of the PIU report. It's the PIU's remit to ask the unacceptable a bit and stretch the boundaries about what people would find acceptable.”

The spokesman referred to a recent Environment Agency report
which looked at charging people for rubbish disposal according to the amount they produce. He said that six out of 10 did not support charging according to the amount of waste they produced, adding “if councils provided containers for the sorting of waste then the picture reverses and six in 10 support charging according to the amount of unsorted rubbish put out for disposal.”

Responsibility
The CIWM said it fully supported direct charging for waste produced by households. Communciations manager Jane Price explained: “We like the idea that direct charging would be increasing the responsibility of the householders but we would not go so far as to being specific about the way this was done, such as weight based, stickers or bags.”

Dr Price noted that direct charging also had the advantage in being a way of charging for a service which did not simply increase the council tax as this would penalise recyclers.
“The whole idea would be one of treating waste management like a utility.”

She said that the Institution considered that if a direct charging scheme were to be put in place an education programme would be needed to go with it as well as kerbside collection of recyclables or high density bring schemes. Dr Price emphasised that direct charging was not simply about raising money but that “we are not paying enough at the moment for waste management”.

Pilot testing
Ray Georgeson, director of policy and communications at WRAP – the Waste and Resources Action Programme – said: “The principal of pilot testing for direct charging is worthwhile, provided the systems in use are devised as an incentive for householders to recycle.

“There’s evidence in Europe and North America that this works provided they run alongside good quality recycling options which is something that has to be provided anyway.”

And, Mr Georgeson pointed to a survey undertaken by the Environment Agency which showed 58% of householders are happy to support charging for the rubbish they produce if recycling were made easier.

Speaking from his position as part of the PIU team, he said he would not be drawn into a debate about the figures. “These figures are speculative and not based on part of the PIU group doing research into waste study.”