And, both councils and pressure groups have blamed the documentary – and any rogue operators that are flouting waste shipment regulations – for derailing years of waste awareness work with the public.
– Lee Marshall, LARAC
LARAC chair Lee Marshall said the programme, which suggested that waste sorted for recycling by householders may end up in landfills in the Far East (see letsrecycle.com story), would damage recycling campaigns because it did not place the problem in context.
He told letsrecycle.com today that although the documentary did highlight a problem, “the show does seem to paint a certain picture that others refute is not the real picture.”
Mr Marshall, who is also head of streetscene at Stratford-upon-Avon council, said: “Councils have put a lot of hard work into getting recycling rates up and things like this don’t help. It requires a lot more effort to get people involved and keep them there than it does to turn them off.”
Valid
The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee defended the process of collecting recyclables commingled and sorting them at materials recycling facilities, stating that it was “just as valid as kerbside-segregated.”
However, the LARAC chairman did add to calls made today by WRAP and the Environment Agency (see letsrecycle.com story) for local authorities to make sure they know where material is being sent.
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He said: “We would urge members to make sure audit trail is in place and robust
Councils need to know where their waste ends up and in what state it is when it gets there. There is a place for export of recyclables but must make sure it is an acceptable form.”
Sussex
West Sussex, one of the councils that exports segregated recyclate via Grosvenor Waste Management, the company named in the BBC documentary last night, told letsrecycle.com that it has already made a visit to the Far East to check on where material could be going. The council has made it clear that it has never exported co-mingled waste
Head of waste management Phil Russell said that West Sussex is sending mixed plastic to China via Grosvenor. “We've always received an income,” he said. “If Grosvenor are paying us, why would they be taking it abroad and dumping it? It doesn't seem to make sense.”
Mr Russell, whose council works with contractor Viridor Waste Management on recycling, said councils to have a liability to work with their contractors to confirm “each stage of the operation of exporting”.
– Andy Bond, ECT Recycling
ECT
ECT Recycling – whose managing director Andy Bond was featured in the BBC documentary – has praised the programme for highlighting what it called “shoddy” practices.
Calling on councils to adopt “a proper audit trail” for their recyclables, Mr Bond said today: “ECT is pleased that this bad practice has been exposed, as it is important that companies play by the rules so the public can have confidence in the recycling process. Companies who are acting illegally need to understand there is no excuse for this kind of shoddy work.”
Greens
Pressure groups are calling for tougher enforcement of waste regulations following the “disturbing allegation” aired by the BBC.
Friends of the Earth said it was “deeply concerned that a few rogue operators could undermine the public perception of recycling”. It wants councils to audit their recycling systems, the Environment Agency to devote more resources towards the problem and the government to investigate whether “lower quality recycling schemes” collecting mixed recyclables “are more open to abuse”.
FoE senior resources and waste campaigner Michael Warhurst said: “This appalling case demonstrates the need for the Environment Agency to crack down on rogue operators, and the need for councils to check where their recycling is ending up. However, the public should remember that most kerbside recycling schemes are well run.”
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The Green Party said the BBC programme had emphasised the need to develop recycling and reprocessing plants in the UK “as a matter of urgency”.
Green Party London Assembly member Darren Johnson said the findings of the BBC programme highlighted practices that “is unacceptable and threatens to undo years of campaigning by green groups. People will start to ask why they should bother recycling.”
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