Goodfellow calls for cross sector collaboration

Waste industry veteran Ian Goodfellow claims that greater collaboration between waste producers, waste collectors and manufacturers will be needed for a circular economy to function in the UK.

Mr Goodfellow, who left his role as managing director of waste management firm Shanks in May, after ten years at the Milton Keynes-based company (see letsrecycle.com story), has since set up the G2Morrow consultancy.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com he said that the waste sector is currently at a time of significant upheaval, as it moves from a disposal driven sector, to one which acts as a supplier of raw materials that meet the quality specifications needed by manufacturers.

And, he commented that while the industry has traditionally been lead by government regulation, particularly the introduction of the landfill tax which came into effect in 1996, much of the change is now being driven by market forces.

But, he called on manufacturers to engage more closely with the waste management industry in order to ensure that there is a demand for high quality recyclate in the UK that will be needed to drive towards a circular economy.

He said: In 2013, we need a recovery system that focuses on quality, so that those valuable materials in the waste stream can go into manufacture. The question for our industry is: what role do we play – having invested in disposal infrastructure and now being asked to bridge that transition?

There is a real requirement for manufacturers to become engaged in the environmental sector if we are not going to have an economy that is based on export by either long term agreements to take quality recovered material, investing in infrastructure, or potentially, getting involved directly.

I think we will see some of those industries engaged with the waste sector in developing new infrastructure because it will be difficult for the waste management industry on its own to invest more money and it is evident that many of them are facing challenges to get investment already.

Procurement programmes

Meanwhile, he said that the government needed to lead by example starting with its own procurement programmes to foster confidence in the recycling sector.

There should be central government procurement strategies that say we will set out and buy services and supplies but they must be recovered materials just waiting for the market to respond is not a strategy.

Mr Goodfellow also argued that the discussion around recycling needs to include the wider public, and that it is important to win the hearts and minds of householders to maximise recycling rates in England.

He added that a striking nationwide publicity campaign could help to alter consumer behaviour in a similar way that campaigns to curb drinking and driving have done for previous generations.

That conversation has to be driven by local authorities because those are the people responsible for collecting that material but that can be stimulated in part by regulation. People should also understand that there is an economic incentive because if you believe in the circular economy there is a logic that says the act of collection should reduce, in which case that should be passed on to the householder.

The other side is winning hearts and minds. It needs to be second nature to people that it is no longer acceptable to dispose of things that have value it has to be something that gets you in the habit of looking for somewhere to dispose of things properly.