Greens pledge to double spending on waste management

Only the Green Party understands the need for a new economic and environmental settlement, in which our economy and our environment work with rather than against each other

 
Caroline Lucas MEP, Green Party leader 

The document, entitled ‘fair is worth fighting for', sets out the party's plans for addressing what it sees as the triple economic, environmental and social crises facing the country- claiming that the other parties have not done enough to tackle inequality and drive sustainability.

And, on the subject of waste, the Green Party says that it would spend an extra £3 billion a year on recycling and waste disposal because “we have to recognise that sophisticated waste management costs more than burying it in the ground” – stressing that it opposed the incineration of waste.

It claims that by doing so, 60,000 extra jobs would be created, helping the economy while also cutting pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

The spending would be part of a Green New Deal to help create jobs and move to a low carbon economy and would be funded through cutting spending in other areas such as defence, roads and ID cards. It would also include “massive” government spending of up to £20 billion on renewables.

The Party also says it would aim for a 70% domestic recycling rate by 2015 – much higher than the 45% target set in the Waste Strategy for England 2007 or the 50% by 2020 target set in the revised Waste Framework Directive – in a bid to move towards a zero waste system.

To aid this process, it says that it would do the “simple thing” like providing a free compost bin and composting advice for anyone who wants them.

However, the party also stresses that it would prioritise waste reduction and reuse above recycling – and says that products needed to be designed and packaged with a view to what happened to them when they ceased to be useful.

It comments: “We will use taxation on unnecessary packaging to discourage its use, and would be prepared to regulate the way things are made so as to prevent them entering the waste system.”

At present, the Green Party has no MPs in Westminster but is hoping for seats in constituencies including Brighton Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), Norwich South (Adrian Ramsay) and Lewisham Deptford (Darren Johnson). There are already Green MEPs, MSPs and councillors.

Writing in the forword to the manifesto, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP said: “Only the Green Party understands the need for a new economic and environmental settlement, in which our economy and our environment work with rather than against each other, for the benefit of all. So I urge you to vote Green on May 6th for a fairer world.”