The warning note came from Simon Hewitt, head of waste strategy at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Mr Hewitt was responding to a question after addressing delegates to the annual local authority recycling officers (LARAC) conference in Harrogate.
He was asked by Jen Robertson of Peterborough City Council as to what exactly “statutory” meant in terms of “statutory recycling targets” and how much trouble would an authority be in for not meeting them.
Mr Hewitt said: “The statutory targets have been sets as part of the best value regime. Sanctions are defined in the Local Government Act 1999. Councils who are not up to the market could be given advice and in extremis the service can be taken away.”
Walk away
After pointing out how some services had been taken away from Hackney London Borough Council, he noted that he had heard reports that some councils might simply walk away from recycling and say that if someone else can do it better they would hand it over. “If you are the leader of a district council and you did experience the government giving that service to someone else it wouldn’t do your political prospects any good. It is a very serious matter with quite potentially deep political consequences.”
The targets provoked some anger at the conference in connection with soil and rubble and the government’s decision last year to remove the materials from being used in meeting recycling targets. Joy Blizzard of East Devon District Council said the decision had dropped her authority’s recycling level from more than 35% to about 25%. “I want to know which materials are going to be cut out next year.”
Defending the policy switch, Mr Hewitt said that ministers had taken the view that rubble would not be included because typically the waste stream would not be from the household. “Probably in the past including rubble meant that there was significant diversion of commercial and industrial waste into CA sites.”
Funding issues were also raised by Mr Hewitt in his speech and by delegates, as well as the question of pooling of targets by local authorities.
He reminded delegates that the New Opportunities Fund would be allocating 39m in England to a “bunch of people out there in the community sector who are going to have some money to spend on recycling. So think laterally, think how you can engage with these other bodies – don’t think if you want to do it, you have to do it yourself.
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