Green groups call for radical change to waste policy

As part of the government's current review of the waste strategy, the group – including Friends of the Earth, Waste Watch and community sector organisations – issued a 15-point plan this week, which they believe would help the England match recycling efforts in the rest of Europe.

” Radical changes to England's waste policy must take place if we are to dramatically improve the way we deal with our waste.“
– Georgina Bloomfield, Friends of the Earth
The coalition wants more ambitious recycling targets imposed nationally and locally as well as new waste prevention targets and a shake-up of environmental taxes to incentivise good practice on waste.

Taxes
As well as more support for existing measures like WRAP, the national Recycle Now campaign and public sector green procurement, the coalition wants to see new measures including a virgin materials tax, a deposit returns scheme and disposable products taxes.

Friends of the Earth recycling campaigner Georgina Bloomfield said: “Radical changes to England's waste policy must take place if we are to dramatically improve the way we deal with our waste and manage our resources more sustainably.

Ms Bloomfield said the current waste review was a “golden opportunity to reassess the future of resources management in this country”, adding: “We need the right legislative and economic framework to be in place to ensure that this vision becomes a reality.”

Plan
The full 15-point plan, “From waste to resource: a new strategy for 2005” called for:

1. Waste prevention targets for councils with appropriate government funding;
2. Higher recycling targets nationally, including a reconsidering of 33% target by 2015, plus further statutory recycling targets for councils;
3. Waste education and communication support for national Recycle Now campaign and work in schools
4. Variable charging and/or financial incentives encouraging householders to recycle with new powers for local authorities
5. Disposal tax extending the Landfill Tax to cover incineration and other waste disposal methods
6. Higher Landfill Tax escalator – to reach 35/tonne rate more quickly
7. Virgin materials tax – to encourage use of re-used or recycled goods and products
8. Disposable products taxes – to “internalise” environmental costs of products and waste within price of goods
9. Green procurement – action to get local and national government departments to support market for recycled materials
10. Market development – continued support for WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, to develop markets for recycled materials
11. Deposit refund schemes to encourage the re-use and recycling of packaging
12. Composting support – to back the adoption of an EU Biowaste Directive and establish composting and anaerobic digestion to meet Landfill Directive targets
13. Support for the social economy – recognition of the environmental and social benefits of social enterprise operations in waste and recycling
14. Producer responsibility extended, with statutory waste/recycling targets for businesses rather than voluntary measures
15. Joined-up agendas – linking aims of thematic strategies and sustainable development policies with climate change agenda.

As well as Friends of the Earth and Waste Watch, the 15-point plan was backed by the Community Recycling Network, Community Composting Network, Furniture Re-use Network, Women's Environmental Network and the Green Alliance.

The coalition said progress had been made in England to reach the current 17% household waste recycling rate, but that “we now need to be more ambitious”.