Jacob Hayler spoke yesterday (27 January) at letsrecycle.com’s virtual Outlook Conference for 2022.
Emma Beal, chair of the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO), echoed his fears, saying she did not know anyone who believed the original timetable for the reforms as set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy could be kept to.
Having run much-delayed consultations on the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS), extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging, and consistency in recycling collections in 2021, Defra is expected to publish its responses “early” this year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Hayler suggested that the industry needed publication of the responses to work out how each policy fitted together and where investment was required.
He said: “We need clarity on how these relationships are going to work through the supply chain.”
Mr Hayler told the conference he estimated a £10 billion investment in recycling infrastructure and services over the next 10 years was required to enact the reforms.
“We are going to be collecting materials, some of which do not have strong, robust domestic end markets in place,” he said.
Circular economy
Ms Beal also expressed concerns, saying local authorities required clarity on the timetable.
“Right now, we’re in a state of confusion,” she said. “We’ve been on a hiatus for a while, waiting for responses to the consultations.”
However, Ms Beal suggested too much emphasis was placed on the individual reforms, rather than tackling issues facing the climate.
“We tend to think about consistency, DRS, and EPR,” she said. “Actually, we need to concentrate on carbon and the Waste Prevention Plan.”
According to Ms Beal, 20% of local authority-collected waste is non-recyclable packaging, 75% of households “resist” using food waste recycling services, and plastic waste increased during the pandemic.
To transition to a circular economy, she suggested, food waste must become a “primary service”, while recycling needs to support the flow of materials.
Currently, food waste collections are expected to become mandatory for all local authorities from 2023, but the government’s Net Zero Plan suggests £295 million in funding for councils will only be available from 2025 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Ms Beal said: “When the funding comes into the system will define when we can actually get started. Every slip pushes back when we can start.”
She added: “The only way we’re going to know if we’ve been successful with all these reforms is by looking at what’s left in the waste.”
Transition
During his talk, Mr Hayler also emphasised the need to move to a circular economy and highlighted the role waste management companies would play.
Our members are actually going to be the ones to deliver the circular economy
- Jacob Hayler, executive director of the ESA
“Our members, working in partnership with local authorities and other partners, are actually going to be the ones to deliver the circular economy,” he said.
To achieve the transition, Mr Hayler suggested, there needed to be “more recycling, less carbon, and higher standards”.
DRS
Rowlando Morgan, head of environment, infrastructure and local growth at the Centre for Economics and Business Research economic consultancy, also spoke at the conference.
He suggested the introduction of the DRS would drive “efficiencies” in recycling but warned that introducing the scheme at different times across the UK increased the potential for fraud.
Mr Morgan told the conference: “One of the key issues is the misalignment of the introduction of deposit return schemes across the UK.
“Ideally, to tackle this issue, you’d introduce the schemes at the same time across the UK.”
With Scotland expected to introduce its scheme before the rest of the UK, Mr Morgan said, there was a danger that people could take packaging across the border from England to redeem a fraudulent deposit.
To address this issue, he said, packaging producers would need to introduce specific stock-keeping units (SKUs) – a unique identifier for a product – for each item they manufactured.
This could lead to “significantly” more time on production lines and, subsequently, increased costs, he said.
Register for free to comment