“It doesn't look like the UK will meet the National Waste Strategy's targets,” Kay Twitchen, chair of the LGA's waste executive, told letsrecycle.com
“I think there will be areas of the country where the targets are unlikely to be met unless we get some new money very quickly.”
Environment minister Michael Meacher announced last week that 47 million of the government's 140 million National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund will be divided this year among 112 schemes.
But only local authorities that made a successful bid for funds will see a share of the money, while others will get nothing (see letsrecycle.com article).
The LGA condemned the announcement as “too little, too late.” The recycling fund was first mentioned in 2000 when the waste strategy was launched. But local authorities have waited until now to hear what financial help they will get for projects.
“Mr. Meacher said the recycling fund was to kick-start recycling provision for local authorities,” said Ms Twitchen. “That was two years ago. We haven't had a penny of that money since then.”
If councils had been allocated funds in 2000, they could have started initiatives such as kerbside collection sooner and could now be expanding their operations, she argued.
And she criticised the decision to withhold some of the 140 million to be allocated in the future, saying: “We would rather it had been shared out equally among all councils two years ago.”
Local authorities that made successful bids should meet their targets, Ms Twitchen confirmed. But she added: “I don't know what the others will do. They've either got to take money away from their other services or curb their ambitions.”
“As the government wants us to deliver the targets in the waste strategy they will have to find a better way of funding it.”
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