Defra – the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – published its responses on Saturday (26 March), outlining its stance on business waste, film collections, EPR timelines and funding, amongst other things.
Mr Coates, posting in a personal capacity on LinkedIn, shared his initial findings where he remarked there is an “overall feeling of disappointment”, and added that no recycling officer will be pleased with the document.
He stated: “At last, we have some clarity on EPR and a few insights into what DRS will look like. Councils will get EPR funding from 2024 and will have to collect film and flexible plastic by March 2027 but we don’t know how as there is no information on what consistency looks like.
“There’s not enough infrastructure in the UK to recycle film and flexibles now, and given how the money moves and procurement timescales, are they accepting the off shoring of this waste problem?”
The overwhelming feeling is one of disappointment
- John Coates, LARAC
Timescales
Mr Coates also called out “a lack of understanding” about the money flow and how this will affect delivery timescales and measurable change.
He said until this changes, councils cannot let collection or treatment contracts “until we know where the red lines are (consistency) and how much we have to spend (additional burdens and EPR funding) and this is right – we should not be cavalier with public money”.
He warned that no council waste management professional will be looking at these documents thinking “Great – I can get cracking on my contracts tomorrow morning!”
‘Disappointed’
The head of LARAC’s external affairs continued that with only two years until April 2024, and without “detailed data to design the payment mechanism”, councils cannot begin changing their collections and tendering contracts.
Mr Coates concluded he was “disappointed at the lack of ambition and the return to form that local councils and their tax paying residents will have to carry the heavy load first”.
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