The pro-source separation group revealed today (July 1) that an application was filed last week with the High Court to seek a judicial review over Defras decision to allow commingling to count towards the separate collection of recycling required under the revised Waste Framework Directive (rWFD). The Campaign has 20 members spanning the material sectors and said that a representative group of its stakeholders had applied for the judicial review
According to the Campaign for Real Recycling, the claimants believe that the position, which was outlined in draft regulations for implementing the rWFD published in February 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story) fails to transpose properly Article 11 of the Directive.
Under Article 11, EU member states must ensure the separate collection of at least paper, glass, metal and plastics by 2015. They must also encourage high quality recycling.
The CRR believes that, by allowing commingling followed by sorting to count as separate collection, the regulations are not a proper and legal transposition of the rWFD as a whole.
Mal Williams, chair of the CRR, said: We have not requested this judicial review lightly. We understand the concerns of councils and their service providers.
If we are to build an industry that is in step with our European counterparts, capable of maximising value from the UK’s waste resources, this is an issue which needs resolving this year.
Value for money
Mr Williams went on to claim that kerbside-sorted recycling provided both the quality of material required by reprocessors and also obtained best value for money.
He added: For reasons which will no doubt become apparent to everyone in due course, Defra has not taken the opportunity to enact regulation consistent with these facts or in our view with the wording of the WFD.
Given that, obtaining clarity in this matter unfortunately requires us to resort to legal action, but that clarity is surely something to be welcomed by all parties in our industry.
The CRR was unavailable for comment this morning to confirm exactly which of its stakeholders were formally named as applicants for the judicial review and to outline the next steps for the legal challenge.
However, it is understood there was disquiet among some reprocessors such as within the paper sector over the CRR action, with some paper mills accepting that commingled material can be acceptable (see letsrecycle.com story).
Related links
Defra
For its part, Defra has made clear that it believes both commingling and kerbside sort count as separate collection under the rWFD, but did acknowledge when laying the draft regulations that there were industry concerns it had fudged the wording of the Directive.
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