Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Blackpool yesterday evening, Mr Meacher told letsrecycle.com: “I am now starting to crack the whip to make very sure the local authorities who are falling behind in recycling now realise the seriousness of the government’s purpose and my absolute determination to make sure these targets are met in full.”
Mr Meacher said he was optimistic the UK would meet its recycling targets beyond 2003/4 but added that the final responsibility lay with the authorities themselves.
The minister began cranking up the pressure last week by writing to 142 local authorities whose recycling rates had either decreased, stayed the same or increased just 1% since last year.
If a council falls behind with its targets, it will be asked to produce an action plan on how to “get back on track”, the Minister said – and it may have to fund the scheme itself.
“Whatever is needed to make sure they meet that target, I am determined it should be met – but it's the councils' responsibility,” he said.
Referring to DEFRA's 140 million Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund, the 50million New Opportunities Fund and PFI funding for major capital investment, Mr Meacher said: “You can't say the government is not providing the money. We have provided money, statutory targets and WRAP to advise local authorities as to how they can achieve these targets. After all of that we expect them to deliver and I'm sure they will.”
On the subject of how councils can best hope to meet recycling targets, Mr Meacher said that kerbside collections would be essential “in almost every case”. He added: “I would like to see kerbside collections everywhere.”
Subscribe for free