FRN calls for Defra to think outside recycling box

And, he said that the government needs to embrace the social and economic value that reuse can offer and work with the FRN – the umbrella body for furniture reuse organisations in the UK – to help ensure the benefits are delivered.

Under the revised Waste Framework Directive, EU member states are required to develop a national waste prevention programme by December 2013. According to the European Commission, reuse and preparing for reuse plays an important role in waste prevention. Reuse falls within the first step of the waste hierarchy – waste prevention – which is followed by preparing for reuse and then recycling.

The FRN said that if Defras Waste Prevention Plan is to be ambitious then it needs to make sure it works with other departments as a single view on waste prevention could result in missed opportunities to bring about social, economic and environmental benefits. It added that the reuse sector could be one of the first to offer real added social value and savings to central government budgets, as well as public contracts, as long as the government delivers waste policies that recognise that opportunities that exist across different agendas.

Improvement

Mr Anderson said: FRN is calling for a dramatic improvement in the connectivity of government policy agendas such as waste prevention and social policy to address cross-disciplinary impacts that can save money and benefit people, while supporting their communities and their environment. This intervention is fundamental for the UK reuse market in the current economic and political climate.

He added that there has been an undervaluing of the benefits that reuse organisations can deliver due to ill-conceived policies being pushed forward without consideration.

“FRN is calling for a dramatic improvement in the connectivity of government policy agendas such as waste prevention and social policy to address cross-disciplinary impacts that can save money and benefit people, while supporting their communities and their environment.”

In addition weve had to battle other material commodity markets, welfare change impacts and an immovable waste infrastructure in the UK that has previously left reuse in the shadows and marginalised.

Benefits

Mr Anderson said that without political action the social benefits of reuse could be lost.

There is a distinct risk that without political action, reuse will be used for profit alone, which may benefit the economy to some extent, but will bring greater negative economic impact to the poorest in society as they lose access to necessary goods and services. Having light-touch interest in reuse has not been conducive to making a real difference; it is only the reusers themselves who remain resolutely duty-bound to maintain their array of services for their local beneficiaries and for reuses wider impacts.

The FRN supports over 300 charitable reuse organisations and social enterprises across the UK which collect a wide range of household items, such as furniture and white goods, to give to people in need. Every year its operations employ 3,000 staff, supports over 10,000 volunteers and helps around 750,000 low-income households.

Guidance

The comments came after the European Commission outlined a range of policy options for member states on waste prevention (see letsrecycle.com story).

It states: Waste prevention is the first tenet of the hierarchy and represents the most efficient and sustainable use of resources. Re-use is an important part of this tenet, because it keeps products in the consumption sphere for a longer period and thus avoids the creation of waste.