Committee urges standard approach to collections

The government should give new, clear guidance to local authorities in England to standardise recycling collections in order to create new economic opportunities, a parliamentary committee report published yesterday (July 24) claims.

According to the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), while councils should tailor their household recycling services to local needs, they should be directed by government through new guidance towards a more standard approach as Wales and Scotland have done.

This approach would include separate collections of food waste and should include separation systems that enable reliable delivery of sorted waste products to all recyclers.

The EAC said that its recent circular economy inquiry had heard from businesses that the vast array of different recycling regimes in different areas of England makes it harder for companies to access valuable materials that could be reused and is also hampering consistent on-pack information about a products recyclability to help householders.

The report, Growing a circular economy: Ending the throwaway society, follows the launch of an inquiry and call for evidence from the EAC in March (see letsrecycle.com story) and makes a number of recommendations aimed at boosting recycling rates and the recyclability of materials.

Recommendations include a reform of the packaging recovery note (PRN) system to include a lower charge for products that have higher recycled content, with funds generated from the scheme distributed to bodies working to enhance materials recovery.

In addition, the EAC suggests regulating the minimum recycled content of particular products to stimulate markets in recovered material, and suggests that the government work towards banning products that cannot be recycled.

And, although the report highlights evidence submitted to the inquiry by consultancy Eunomia calling for the introduction of a tax on incineration, the EAC itself stops short of recommending such a measure.

Government

The Committee also stops short of making specific recommendations on whether a particular department should lead on waste, but the report is critical of the governments lack of ambition and leadership on the circular economy.

The Committee therefore calls on the government to learn from the strategic vision that other countries have adopted and to support the EUs proposed 70% recycling target, which the committee believes is achievable in the UK.

Elsewhere, Defra is singled out for having dramatically cut funding for resource efficiency initiatives, and the EAC suggests that some of the money generated from landfill tax should be used to reverse the cuts in WRAPs funding.

Criticism is also levelled against the government on its planned exemptions to the 5p levy on plastic bags, with the report describing the exclusion of small businesses in the levy as a particularly striking example of its lack of ambition to take the steps needed to embed a more circular approach throughout the economy.

Elsewhere, the report praises the eDoc system for helping to improve data on waste, but it urges for the government to set out plans to ensure the systems long term future.

Design

Much of the EAC report focuses on product design, with recommendations for the government to work towards banning products made from materials that cannot be recycled.

It also calls for lower VAT rates for products with lower environmental impact or higher recycled content, as well as extending the minimum warranty period for consumer products to encourage businesses towards greater resource efficiency.

Chair of the committee, Joan Walley MP, said: We had throwaway economics in the past, but that disposable society simply isnt sustainable in the twenty-first century. Less than half of all the stuff we throw away each year is recycled and turned back into something useful, despite prices for raw materials rising across the world.

She added: We have to create a more circular economy that rewards innovative businesses, values natural capital, and is resilient in the face of rising global resource prices.