‘How the pandemic may signal a changing of the tides’

The way we view and use resources as a nation is changing rapidly as we respond to the climate crisis and inevitably adapt to the ongoing pandemic.

Anyone involved in local politics knows how much waste management matters on the doorstep, but whether these perceptions and changing priorities correlate with what we hear from Parliament and government is a different question.

The All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group continues to be an active channel of debate in this space, but how much is waste and resources on Parliament’s agenda, and how is language around the topic changing? As we reflect over Recycling Week 2020, this article explores trends across aspects of the sector that MPs have raised over recent years, and whether these match changing public attitudes and sentiments.

Upwards trends

Looking at the data from recent years, there are two terms that seem to have gained particular traction in public and political debates in the context of reducing waste pollution.

Firstly, aside from whether it has translated to behaviour change, there is a broad appreciation for the huge impact TV programme Blue Planet II has had on the profile of plastics. Parliamentary references to ‘plastic’ were already steadily rising each year, but the likely catalyst effect of Blue Planet II (broadcast in late 2017) was stark, nearly trebling parliamentary mentions in the 12 months after its initial broadcast.

In fact, 2018 saw a notable increase across the piste for resources/waste terminology, aside from just ‘plastic’. Within this uptick was ‘waste’, which had plateaued over the preceding years (still higher than any other resource sector references), but saw a 75% increase year-on-year in 2018. Despite public concern soaring to nearly 90% in polls off the back of the scenes of polluted oceans, the public still broadly appear to feel that it isn’t consumers’ responsibility to tackle the plastic problem.

And happily as we mark Recycling Week 2020, references to ‘recycling’ have also continued to climb. Last year, references were up 200% on the figure for 2015, and represented the greatest number of mentions of the word on record. But whilst this upward trend of political interest is clear, we know that we need to do more to encourage greater levels of recycling, to combat the flatlining we have seen over recent years in England.

Interesting changes

In a similar vein, mentions of ‘food waste’ have fluctuated each year, but have continued to remain high up the list in recent years. This is perhaps to be expected, given increased ambitions and focus on improving food waste collections, and reducing the climate impact of overproduction and consumption.

However, interestingly, there appears to have been an apparent decline in parliamentary discussion of ‘anaerobic digestion’. This is surprising, given that AD is one of the main treatments for food waste and other organic waste.

An area that Policy Connect has been active in this year is residual waste. References to ‘Energy from Waste’, as referred to by industry, as well as ‘landfill’, have seen little change over recent years in Parliament.

“Hansard recorded ‘incineration’ the same number of times in 2018-19, as the rest of the 2010s combined”

Olly Feaver, policy manager at Policy Connect

On the other hand, ‘incineration’, the title more commonly adopted by opponents of EfW has seen a steady rise in recent years, coinciding with a number of planning applications that have received vocal opposition from local people. In fact, Hansard recorded ‘incineration’ the same number of times in 2018-19 as the rest of the 2010s combined. This preceded two lively Westminster Hall debates at the beginning of this year.

Tomorrow’s debates

Looking ahead to spot the conversations of tomorrow amongst the debates of today, there are some standout phrases. Whilst still relatively low compared with other terms, ‘circular economy’ and ‘reuse’ have been steadily on the rise in recent years. The last couple of years also saw the emergence of ‘refill’. In fact, last year alone, Hansard recorded ‘refill’ more times than in the five years between 2010 and 2015 combined.

Secondly, over the next few years we can expect to see the fruits of the Resources and Waste Strategy coming into effect. Of its various provisions and reforms, ‘deposit return’ has so far managed to gain the most attention in Parliament. Hansard records more mentions of a ‘deposit return scheme’ since 2018 than since records began. Deposit return schemes are arguably the most understandable and least complex measure for those not involved in the sector, as we already witness live examples abroad – so whether we will see a surge in parliamentary discussions around producer responsibility reforms in the coming months is another matter.

Conclusion

It is not yet clear whether we are witnessing language and priorities in Parliament shifting for good, or if these trends were simply coincidental. What is clear is that MPs’ priorities and willingness to discuss resources is on the rise, and this can only be a positive. As the full extent of the nation’s ‘new normal’ hygiene practices and disposable PPE requirements are realised, we can no doubt anticipate more lively debates to come.