Bodies such as the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), the recycling campaign group Plastics 2020 Challenge and Friends of the Earth offered a divided opinion on the merits and practicalities of the proposed system.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Joy Blizzard, chair of LARAC, said it was for local authorities to decide what would best suit their area and that she would like to see “detailed costs” behind the recycling incentives.
And, she pointed to the fact that the government could be setting a “dangerous precedent” by throwing its support behind a scheme whereby residents could expect to be rewarded for their green efforts, as councils could achieve large increases in recycling through other methods as well.
She said: “Are high-performing councils expected to add to their budget costs? My biggest concern is that this government's endorsement of one scheme in particular shuts down any debate on what other policy options are available.”
The comments were echoed by another local authority waste commentator, who claimed that incentives could place added burdens on waste collection authorities, increase round times and lead to an “expectation of rewards among householders for doing, what is essentially, a simple day-to-day task”.
Wider plans
Also skeptical about the government's stance on incentives was Friends of the Earth, which said that while rewards for recycling could potentially curb waste growth, a more punitive approach – which has been ruled out by the government – could also work. The comments follow the government's pledge earlier this week to abolish ‘bin taxes', and so-called “bin policemen”, by supporting the use of incentives.
Andy Atkins , Friends of the Earth executive director, said he did not oppose the idea of imposing ‘bin charges' on residents, claiming that the principle “works well on the continent” and helps to increase recycling rates. He added: “It should be introduced here”.
And, echoing Ms Blizzard's point about a need for wider engagement rather than just incentives, Mr Atkins said: “Rewarding people for recycling can help tackle the UK's vast refuse mountain, but it must be part of a wide and comprehensive waste action plan.”
These comments have already been somewhat addressed by RecycleBank president Matt Tucker, who explained in November last year that the scheme on its own was not a “silver bullet” but would work best as part of a council's wider waste plans (see letsrecycle.com story).
The government plans were welcomed by Plastics 2020 Challenge – a campaign group made up of plastics recyclers, reprocessors and manufacturers aimed at doubling the plastic recycling rate by 2020.
Barry Turner of the Plastics 2020 Challenge said: “In light of the Government's aspiration to become ‘one of the green economies of Europe' and our own target to double the rate of plastic packaging recycling by 2020 we welcome this incentive-based approach as a positive step to encourage genuine behavioural change when it comes to household waste.”
Defence
Since the full launch of the Windsor and Maidenhead RecycleBank scheme – which drew widespread media interest – criticism and scrutiny of the system has begun to appear in the mainstream press, with questions raised about how it could be practically applied by local authorities.
Speaking on BBC Four's Today programme earlier this week (June 7), councillor Gary Porter, chair of the Local Government Association's environment committee, defended the system and claimed that it was still up to councils to see what best suited their area.
In a heated discussion with host John Humphreys, Cllr Porter said: “This is purely an incentivised scheme where people are rewarded for participating in recycling. It is one of these schemes that councils are looking at up and down the country in order to divert as much waste as we can from landfill.”
Cllr Porter also hit out at claims by public privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch that the radio frequency identification devices (RFID) chips in the RecycleBank bins would act as a precursor – or “stalking horse”- for levies on residual waste to be introduced in the future.
“Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The [campaign group] must be quite paranoid about it,” he said. “[The chip] just tells councils how much recycling you put in your recycling bin and those people doing so in Windsor and Maidenhead are doing so voluntarily.”
WAG
Elsewhere, Welsh environment minister, Jane Davidson refuted claims in some areas of the media that ‘pay-as-you throw' schemes, which would place a charge on residents relating to the amount of material they put out for collection, might be introduced in Wales.
Ms Davidson said the country had “absolutely no plans” to introduce charges for household waste in Wales and said she had previously given “numerous assurances” that the Welsh Assembly Government would not be introducing ‘pay-as-you-throw' schemes in the country.
The minister said: “As I have stated on numerous occasions we have no plans to charge people for collecting their household waste for landfill. Recent news reports are recycling claims without taking any account of the Assembly Government's clearly stated position and rebuttal. These suggestions are simply wrong.”
The comments come ahead of the Welsh Assembly Government launching its ‘Towards Zero Waste' strategy, which is set to be published on June 21 and include means of achieving a 70% recycling rate by 2025 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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