In the third article of our election series, we turn our attention to the Green Party, which has enjoyed a surge in support in the run-up to the election. Across the country, hopeful MPs from the waste world are feeling energised – and talking anti-incineration, social equality and recycling markets.
Paul Woodhead – Cannock Chase
Running for one of the most marginal seats in the country, Paul Woodhead has a real chance of swaying the vote in this Staffordshire constituency.
Mr Woodhead has been involved in the waste industry for 25 years, most recently as a consultant for Albion Environmental Ltd. The Cannock candidate is also a fellow of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Woodhead admitted he only joined the Green Party last Christmas – but believes he can do well in the constituency that “cares deeply” about social equality.
He is also critical of Veolia’s Four Ashes energy from waste plant, which opened last year north of Wolverhampton and treats 300,000 tonnes of refuse from Staffordshire, Sandwell, Walsall and Warwickshire councils.
“We have concerns that having energy from waste might stifle future recycling,” he explains. “Then we look at district councils and they will be under pressure to recycle with a reduced budget from central government.”
Votes
Anti-incineration is a recognisable policy across most Green candidate campaigns, but will it be a vote winner? Cannock Chase became a Conservative seat in 2010 with Aidan Burley clinching the seat from Labour with a 3,000 majority.
This year Mr Burley will not be standing for re-election and the latest polls show Labour to be six points head. But the Party shouldn’t count its chickens just yet.
If a Green surge does happen here, it could see Mr Woodhead pull in crucial votes from the left and give way to a Tory majority. It’s a possibility that does not seem to concern the contender.
“The overwhelming volume of people in Cannock Chase support a green agenda,” he adds. “If Labour have moved their policies in the wrong direction that’s their problem, it’s not a Green Party problem.”
Whatever the result, Cannock Chase is lining up to be one of the more exciting election results to watch next week.
Pauline Hinchion – Dundee West
Much has been made of the SNP’s unstoppable rise in Scotland, but news of the Green Party’s influence north of the border has been scarce.
Pauline Hinchion, previously chief executive of the Community Resource Network Scotland (CRNS), has set her sights on Dundee West – a constituency with a long history of voting Labour.
But times are changing, and Dundee’s decision to vote in favour of Scottish independence has sent shockwaves throughout the city – with the SNP now on course to win over the electorate.
Caught up in this historic battle, Ms Hinchion is keen to pave the way for the Green agenda in Dundee – where she sees “lots of affluence, lots of poverty, and not enough recycling in tenements”.
The city council is currently undergoing a two-year roll out of new household recycling collections, with flats and tenements to be assessed on a case by case basis.
Infrastructure
But Ms Hinchion wants to see more done. “Infrastructure is moving away very quickly and now we only get refuse collections every two weeks. Residents don’t feel the infrastructure available to them is sufficient.”
The Green candidate, who still sits as trustee on the Tayside Re-Users charity, believes the falling price of recyclate is impacting recycling in the UK, with little incentive for local authorities to step up collections.
On the Green plan to set a 70% recycling target by 2020, she adds: “I think we need to be ambitious. Now we are talking about a circular economy which helps but it is not necessarily going to get people using the materials from recycling.”
At home, Ms Hinchion is an enthusiastic runner and Coronation Street fan. She also voted YES to Scottish independence last year in what she describes as a “proud moment” for Dundee.
Ms Hinchion concedes the Greens could be left in the SNP’s wake this time round, but she thinks the Party’s moment in the sun will come at the separate Scottish Parliament elections in 2016.
Chas Ball – Colne Valley
Meanwhile in Yorkshire, prospective Green Party candidate Chas Ball is hoping to engage Colne Valley voters with a “pragmatic” approach towards recycling.
Mr Ball, who has recently retired as chief executive of national transport charity Carplus Trust, was at the forefront of recycling when the sector was still taking shape in the 90s.
Mr Ball served as executive director of Save Waste And Prosper from 1989 to 1997, a not-for-profit company part owned by Leeds city council that established source separation recycling trials in the city.
Today, Mr Ball says the industry has come a long way – but he would still like to see attitudes change in his Colne Valley constituency.
“It doesn’t have as bad a recycling rate as it could have”, he says. “I don’t think there is enough recognition among the public of what the end product is and why materials fluctuate in value.”
Crime
The Colne Valley hopeful adds he finds it “depressing” that waste crime enforcement is so underfunded, arguing that is why fridge recycling in this area has collapsed.
On his Party’s pledge to achieve 70% recycling target by 2020, he says: “The zero waste people are on the right track but one has to be pragmatic. I would like to see better models for collecting high quality recyclables, such as separate collection of paper and card.”
Mr Ball concedes Colne Valley is not a target seat for his Party, but could the ‘Green surge’ help turn the tide in this Conservative constituency?
All this week, letsrecycle.com will be on the campaign trail. Know someone from the waste industry running in the elections? Please email tom.g@letsrecycle.com with your suggestions.
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