First known as the 'D;oorstep Recycling Bill' when proposed by pressure group Friends of the Earth before being introduced as the 'Municipal Waste Recycling Bill' in Parliament by Labour backbencher Joan Ruddock, the Bill has now been re-named once again following its latest test, the Report Stage in the House of Commons.
The Household Waste Recycling Bill, as it is now called, requires English waste collection authorities to collect at least two recyclates from households separate from residual waste by 2010.
Commenting on the latest triumph of the Bill, Friends of the Earth campaigner Martyn Williams said: “Congratulations to Joan Ruddock for successfully piloting this important Bill through the House of Commons. By making recycling as easy as putting out the rubbish, England's pathetic recycling record looks set for a dramatic improvement.”
Certain councils with particular difficulties in meeting the demands of the bill could be given a five-year extension on the 2010 deadline, but the government has indicated that only in special circumstances would a derogation be granted.
Another “get-out” clause would be for those households provided “comparable” recycling facilities to a kerbside collection. It was suggested at the Standing Committee that this might mean that councils would not need to provide kerbside services to households within 100 metres of a bring bank or civic amenity site.
A government amendment made today means that Wales will have the option to follow England with the provisions of the Bill, but Northern Ireland will not be covered by the Bill at all, much to the regret of Friends of the Earth.
Support
The Bill now passes to the Lords, where it will go through similar readings and committee hearings to those seen in the Commons. Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Williams said that while nobody could be completely confident at the outcome, the feeling was that because the Bill has all-party support, its progression through the Lords would be “straight-forward”.
If successful, the Bill could become Law by November 2003. It would require the government to report to Parliament by October 2004 on progress being made towards meeting the Bill's requirements.
The success of the Bill so far – surprising to some, in that it is a private members' Bill – has come largely because of the government's decision last month to back the Bill (see letsrecycle.com story). It is thought by some in the waste sector that the government's sudden decision to back the Bill could have been something of a swan song on the part of the outgoing environment minister, Michael Meacher.
Explaining his backing for the Bill, the then minister told MPs: “Things have changed, and we are in the lower reaches of a rising curve that is steadily gathering momentum. The Bill will be part of generating that momentum. I would only add that it is not only a question of the assured production of the recyclate and its adequate quality, but there must also be an assurance of the market.”
Two materials
It was this concern that the collection of recyclables might outstrip the market for those recyclable materials that meant the government proposed a minimum collection of two different materials rather than four, as was suggested by some MPs. This decision was also made to provide flexibility for local authorities, which a demand for four materials to be collected from every household would not provide.
In the interest of promoting home composting, the government insisted that green waste could not count as one of these two materials to be collected for recycling, but more guidance is expected from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what will count.
Although no longer common in the UK, the government said that the use of “dirty-MRFs” – i.e. materials recycling facilities that take in mixed refuse and process out certain materials for recycling – would not count towards the two materials to be collected for recycling.
For more information on this bill, see the Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Household Waste Recycling Bill
provided by DEFRA.
Subscribe for free