Councils urged to keep waste at forefront of agenda

I have enjoyed it, it is a huge privilege to lead an organisation such as NAWDO

 
Steve Burdis, chair of NAWDO

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Steve Burdis, who is stepping down next week after two years in the post for the trade body for waste disposal officers, explained that waste and recycling collections would remain an important area for local authorities despite financial pressures.

Outlining the challenges ahead, he said: “I think waste management will certainly continue to be at the forefront and there is still a lot to do, such as achieving full compliance on the Landfill Directive. And, they are still dealing with a service which continues to increase in price during a difficult time for local authority finance.”

Mr Burdis, who is also head of waste management at Dorset county council, is set to step down from his role as chair of the trade body, known as NAWDO, at the organisation's annual general meeting next Tuesday (June 8).

John Woodruff, head of waste management at the London borough of Bromley, is set to replace Mr Burdis, who will retain a seat on NAWDO's policy and advisory team.

This move coincides with two changes on the policy and advisory team, as Bernard Warr, head of waste at Cambridgeshire county council, and Ray Burton, operations manager for waste management at Warwickshire county council, have both retired.

Tenure

While in his role at NAWDO, Mr Burdis was keen to assert issues facing waste disposal authorities, remaining vocal on topics which affected the efforts of disposal officers. During his tenure he had called on the government to offer a stronger lead on how local authorities should focus spending on waste management and recycling (see letsrecycle.com story).

Looking ahead, Mr Burdis said that NAWDO would be looking at improving its website in order to further the way that it promotes itself. “I think one thing we definitely need to tackle is the website and that is a high priority going forward and we need an active website to promote what we do,” he said.

Ultimately, Mr Burdis said he was pleased with what he had achieved in the role and looked forward to continuing to work with the organisation.

“I have enjoyed it, it is a huge privilege to lead an organisation such as NAWDO, although we always tend to leave with the feeling that we could always do more,” he said.

“NAWDO is an organisation which we have had to run on top of our day jobs, which has been hard over the past few years what with workloads and in the economic climate.”