Fresh move for agreement on MRF quality

Organised by the Environmental Services Association and WRAP – the Waste & Resources Action Programme – the event is being seen as an important initiative with lots of different stakeholders working together.

It represents the continuation of work dating back several years on a variety of often parallel issues surrounding the quality of dry recyclate. These include ensuring that exports are of appropriate quality to be legal, that environmental standards are protected, there is a low cost system, overcoming conflicts between collection methods, meeting standards required by reprocessors and working with local authorities.

letsrecycle.com understands that some of those involved in the debate accept that there is a state of imperfection and that because there are a lot of different opinions it cause nervousness for industry and other stakeholders.

For the waste management industry there is a desire to sit down with Defra and the Environment Agency to work out what needs to be achieved. Exports are definitely an area in which there is a desire to ensure environmental standards are protected and ensure material exported is recycled.

Reprocessors still have strong views about the need for quality and there remains concerns about the material derived from materials recycling facilities. Views on this are expected to be aired at the Birmingham event.

The waste management sector has developed its RRS assurance scheme for materials recycling facilities which has received some support from Defra and the EA. But, it has had its limitations and the industry would like to move the RRS concept forward, potentially setting targets by 2014 for a percentage of MRFs to adopt a quality assurance approach.

Quality

Among issues that are likely to be raised at the meeting is quality management. In terms of inputs to a MRF there is a varying degree of control and the market doesnt always price itself on degrees of contamination that might be found with the recyclables. On the input side, there is still a lot to be done at the input stage, but this is in large part determined by millions of householders and businesses. What might be achieved could be down to local and national campaigns is a view within the waste management sector.

On the output side though, price is more sensitive to quality. Some in the waste management sector are understood to believe that it would be appear to be logical that reprocessors would want different qualities at different prices and that a system could develop to manage that asymmetry.

A factor in this could be the competing demands for material and the fact that the business cycle has moved fast over the past four years with different qualities being in demand. A system could be developed to meet the needs of the reprocessor and the seller of the material, it is believed.

Working on the integrity of the dry recyclate market would also bring some benefits, is a view within the waste management sector. In terms of the regulators it could make their work more effective if the understanding of material flows and quality management were developed. Similarly, it would help in tackling brokers and dealers, some of whom it is considered might be used to absolve others of certain responsibilities.

How a new approach to quality and MRF materials could be developed is open to debate. But, implementation and action would be essential to show that progress is being made. One way could be that local authority procurement processes could see tenders issued only to businesses which are part of a scheme.

And, in terms of industry, a target could be set, perhaps of 90% of all MRFs working to the quality code by 2014. One of the hopes is that such a move could give reprocessors what they want in terms of materials and quality and provide more transparency. And, for the reprocessor it may be that their price and quality side becomes more efficient.