In a speech tonight, the Agency's chairman, Lord Chris Smith, will tell local authorities to take a long-term view when considering whether to invest in recycling services and to seek new domestic markets for recyclables (see letsrecycle.com story).
To imply that local authorities are cutting back on these services at the first sign of difficulty is both unhelpful and untrue
Cllr Paul Bettison, LGA
But, his comments have already come under fire from councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association's (LGA) environment board.
“Councils are already ‘holding their nerve' and providing a range of recycling services despite the economic slowdown,” Cllr Bettison said.
“To imply that local authorities are cutting back on these services at the first sign of difficulty is both unhelpful and untrue,” he added.
In his speech, which will be made this evening to the Aldersgate Group of environmental businesses, Lord Smith will warn of a return to the “bad old days” of sending almost all waste to landfill.
However, Cllr Bettison stressed that councils were already well aware of the negative impact of failing to recycle and to instead send waste to landfill.
“Councils know only too well that the alternative to recycling is to throw waste into landfill, which is damaging to the environment and expensive for the taxpayer,” he said. “Local people should continue to recycle as much as possible.”
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