Defra attends RecycleBank roundtable meeting

The meeting was hosted by sustainability organisation the Green Alliance and formed part of its work on climate change which includes examining how better political communication could lead to stronger public support for a low carbon society. Those present included representatives from government offices, campaign groups, consultancies, legal firms, local authorities and the retail sector.

The merits of incentivisation of recycling featured strongly at the event, with scrutiny and discussion of RecycleBank although it is not thought that a representative from the company was invited.

The scheme has risen to prominence since first being name-checked by Chancellor George Osborne in July 2008 and has been adopted by the Royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Halton borough council and as many as 25 more councils are believed to be discussing use of the service (see letsrecycle.com story).

Delegates speaking to letsrecycle.com explained that there was support for what RecycleBank aims to achieve. But, the meeting saw concerns aired about the scheme driving consumption of material as opposed to pushing the message of waste reduction.

One attendee, who chose to remain anonymous, said: “One of the main concerns is that it skews the waste hierarchy. I mean, waste recycling is good but not as good as having waste reduction or reuse. We seem to be incentivising consumption, which is missing the point.”

This issue was echoed by Mike Webster of Waste Watch, who confirmed he had attended the meeting and said: “We could see this crazy situation of individuals purchasing and consuming more simply to gain RecycleBank credits or choosing less environmentally friendly options simply to gain more points.”

Furthermore, delegates said that the meeting, which took the form of workshops and discussions, saw concerns raised about the impact of the system on recycling rates. It was claimed it is hard to detect the impact of the service and that information on its overall benefits was limited.

Cost

Another attendee told letsrecycle.com that there was a concern among delegates that RecycleBank was geared towards the middle class as the vouchers were based on achieving money off after a certain level of spending. For example, offering £5 off every purchase over £25.

The RecycleBank system works on the basis of offering participating residents up to £135 per year in vouchers and discounts mainly in local and national stores based on the amount of material they place at the kerbside for recycling. Financial support for the early years of RecycleBank in Maidenhead has been given by contractor Veolia ES.

The meeting also heard the point that: “The major partner in the first instance [Windsor and Maidenhead] was M&S and seriously there has got to be a question or concern if they were to extend their involvement across the country, as that is going to count out some of the lower class participants.”

Adoption

It is understood that the actual cost of adopting the RecycleBank system in the first place was also discussed. According to sources, some local authority delegates were wary of pressure from communities secretary Eric Pickles to adopt incentive schemes while also trying to achieve budget savings.

“Some local authority people who were there weren't convinced by the particulars and practicality during one of the biggest recessions there has been,” said one delegate. “There was a feeling there are easier ways to get people to recycle even if Mr Pickles is particularly keen on this.”

Concerns about the use of incentives for kerbside recycling have been raised by the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) in the wake of the communities secretary Eric Pickles branding incentives as “the new face of refuse collection”.

Speaking in the same week as the scheme was rolled-out to all households in Windsor and Maidenhead, LARAC said that the use of incentives to encourage recycling could set a “dangerous precedent” for incentivising other day-to-day chores (see letsrecycle.com story).

Response

Contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokeswoman for RecycleBank, stressed the range of discounts and offers supplied by the rewards partners under the incentive scheme and refuted the claim it precluded poorer households. The company pointed to offers such as free swimming sessions and free entry to some events.

Defra

Defra has confirmed it attended the meeting but declined to comment in detail. The department's view on recycling incentives – and RecycleBank – was outlined by environment secretary Caroline Spelman during a speech at the Futuresource conference in June where she praised the RecycleBank scheme.

WRAP

The Waste & Resources Action Programme confirmed it attended the event. Regarding its views on incentives and RecycleBank, a spokeswoman told letsrecycle.com: “Similar systems have been effective in other countries, such as in other parts of Europe, the US and Canada. 

“WRAP therefore supports such schemes as part of a range of options available to councils, but only where there are good recycling services in place which are easily accessible to residents. Councils will only use the options they believe are practical and effective in their own areas to deliver greater recycling and reduce the amount of waste.”

However, another attendee of the event urged caution in drawing conclusions on the effectiveness of RecycleBank without a much wider roll-out of the service.

The source said: “There are only two successful roll-outs so far, Windsor and Maidenhead and Halton, and one of those has only had it a week for all households. So we can't just talk about these two schemes, we have to look at the generalities of incentives.”