The message came from Simon Hewitt, head of waste strategy at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who was speaking at the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers' conference last week.
Mr Hewitt told delegates “you can do it” in a bid to put the UK back on track to meet government targets. His comments were seen by some observers as a hint of panic within government and follow last month's Waste Summit which was held to address the issue.
Speaking at the “Joint Waste Management Strategies – What Have We Learnt So Far?” conference in Nottingham, Mr Hewitt told officers that they should ensure that a new recycling system does not squeeze out the existing service and said: “Don't concentrate on capital-intensive solutions when there are cheap low-hanging fruit.”
But he made it clear that local authorities cannot get round the issue that an increase in recycling means investment in material recycling facilities (MRFs), trucks, bring-sites and kerbside schemes. And he said that it was the councillor's role to raise awareness about the importance of recycling and find the money.
Forward planning
Mr Hewitt warned that long-term contracts can prevent a move to more sustainable practices and made it clear that targets will only be met by investment, co-ordination, forward planning and by learning from best practice.
Mr Hewitt reiterated the need for closer working between councils and the community sector and the need to engage the community in recycling plans. He said that this included waste disposal and collection authorities working together and that moving away from landfill is an issue for WCAs as well as disposal authorities and said that everyone needs to work together to find optimal solutions to the waste crisis.
When implementing new contracts, Mr Hewitt said that they can be made more effective by looking at issues such as if the waste collection authority (WCA) sorts recyclables on the vehicle when the waste disposal authority (WDA) has sorting equipment in MRF. Another issue is if WCAs deliver recyclables to WDA in different ways and if WCAs fail to adapt collection methods to different areas. And he added that as paying contract penalties is cheaper for a contractor than providing specified service, contracts should be constructed to avoid this.
Success
Looking back at the event as a whole, Ray Greenall, Nawdo's national chairman, said: “I am proud to be chairman of Nawdo at the time of the first of what I hope will become a regular quality event – the Nawdo annual conference. The quality of the day was another sign of Nawdo's growing in stature in the waste management industry. We plan an even bigger event next year to celebrate our tenth anniversary.”
Nawdo is already planning next year's seminar for November 22.
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