Fears over councils competing for trade waste work

At the same time, some sector experts have asked what really lies behind the data change while others say that the Department is sending out a confused message over commercial waste.

The comments come after Defra promised that councils would not be hit either by LATS accounting or in other ways if the base date for waste volumes is altered (see letsrecycle.com story).

It seems, said one expert, that the Department has made a mistake in the past over its baseline data and has not met the EU data rules. He pointed to a comment made last week by the Department which, he said, “glosses over months and years of discussions and disagreements in meetings and emails with the EU.”

He was referring to a Defra statement last week which said: “In discussions with the European Commission over the last year we have come to agree that the UK's existing approach is focused too narrowly on waste collected by local authorities.”

Eurostat, the statistical side of the European Commission, has given the following definition of municipal waste to letsrecycle.com. It appears to suggest that councils should be counting in waste from small businesses. What is unclear is whether this is associated with the belief that councils should be providing this service.

EU Definition:

Municipal waste includes household waste and similar waste.

The definition also includes:

• bulky waste (e.g. white goods, old furniture, mattresses); and
• yard waste, leaves, grass clippings, street sweepings, the content of litter containers, and market cleansing waste,if managed as waste.

It includes waste originating from:

• households,
• commerce and trade, small businesses, office buildings and institutions (schools, hospitals, government buildings).

It also includes:

• waste from selected municipal services, i.e. waste from park and garden maintenance, waste from street cleaning services (street sweepings, the content of litter containers, market cleansing waste) if managed as waste.

It includes waste from these sources collected:

• door-to-door through traditional collection (mixed household waste), and
• fractions collected separately for recovery operations (through door-to-door collection and/or through voluntary deposits).

For the purpose of this questionnaire, municipal waste refers to waste defined as above, collected by or on behalf of municipalities.

The definition also includes waste from the same sources and similar in nature and composition which:

• are collected directly by the private sector (business or private non-profit institutions) not on behalf of municipalities (mainly separate collection for recovery purposes),
• orginate from rural areas not served by a regular waste service, even if they are disposed by the generator.

Household like waste generated by sectors not covered by the definition of municipal waste, should be reported under the respective sectors of table 1.

The definition excludes:

• waste from municipal sewage network and treatment,
• municipal construction and demolition waste.

Anxiety 

Reactions to Defra's recent comments and pronouncements by ministers have caused anxiety in the private sector with some companies believing they are already facing unfair competition from local authorities and that the situation will get worse when they are quoting for commercial work in the future.

However, contractors have told letsrecycle.com that they find it difficult to publicise their own problems with councils. If issues are made public, they fear losing work to the local authority or losing on work it tenders, such as for transfer stations or bank servicing.

One company said that its local authority was competing with it for the supply of two wheeled 1100 litre bins for weekly emptying and the council had charged just over half of what was seen as a standard going rate.

Now the Environmental Services Association – the trade association for the waste management sector – has stepped into the fray and voiced its concerns over “interference” by local authorities.

The association represents the UK waste management industry including the largest firms and it is known that some of its members too have concerns about local authority competition at local levels.

ESA chief executive Dirk Hazell said: “We are talking to the government about what they are trying to achieve in a context where the rising landfill tax will, without any further intervention, become a very powerful driver to push more waste up the hierarchy.”

Mr Hazell added: “We are concerned about a range of issues, including market distortions, that could result from local authority interference in a waste stream we have managed well.”

Alarm 

The Recycling Association has also voiced alarm at what it perceives as a trend towards councils subsidising their collections through the use of municipal collection vehicles and other assets funded by council tax payers.”

David Symmers, chief executive of The Recycling Association, told letsrecycle.com: “We have had a meeting with Defra but they are still to come back to us. We have concerns over whether councils might get recycling credits for trade waste and also over any misuse of public sector money to compete with the private sector.”

Recycling businesses across the UK have added their concerns. From Scotland to eastern England and the South West the message has been clear in recent weeks. A typical view, emailed to letsrecycle.com was that: “I would like to make one point, I don't agree that any councils in the UK should target SMEs, shops or any other business within the private sector by using tax payers money to compete with the private sector.”

Another waste paper merchant told letsrecycle.com that he believed there should be little need for councils to provide their own service. “They can provide a register of local private contractor to do work. If they do offer a service there should be full transparency if a local authority bid for work and all its costs should be clearly stated, audited and regulated.” He added that there were also cases where people working in the private sector had joined local authorities and were keen to operate as businesses.

Defra

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not responded to a request from letsrecycle.com for clarification over whether or not councils should be competing for trade waste work and if so, what level of transparency should be adopted.