Lord Taylor: England is showing leadership on waste

England is taking as much of a lead on waste as Scotland and Wales but is faced with challenges on a much larger scale, according to recycling minister Lord Taylor.

The minister’s comments came as he spoke exclusively to letsrecycle.com earlier this month about government policy, the Olympics and the debate over commingled collection. The full report can be found here.

Lord Taylor said he was pleased the Scottish and Welsh governments are driving important issues forward.

Recent policies introduced in Scotland include a ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfillby the end of2020 (see letsrecycle.com story), whilein Wales there is astatutory 70% recycling target for 2025 (see letsrecycle.com story).

However,he said Englands larger size meantthese kinds ofpolicies were not necessarily suitable here, and the government did not want to be overly prescriptive.

Im very pleased that they [Scotland and Wales] are driving some of those policies forward as they are tackling some issues which are important through the UK but it is clearly much easier to do so within the context of a relatively small part of the UK”, he said.

“We certainly are learning and will learn a lot from the way they are initiating some of these policies but it is not masking the fact that England has a greater scale to many of the issues.

In England we are not seeking to define tight parameters with regards to how we deal with waste and yet of course we recognise the importance of providing a lead.

Voluntary

There are many ways in which the coalition government has taken a lead on waste, according to Lord Taylor,such as the launch of the voluntary Business Waste Commitment last year which is designed to improve the access of businesses to council trade waste services as well the recent launch of the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement.

Work has alsobegun to tacklewaste clothing and waste wood, with a call for evidence on banning waste wood from landfill expected by the end of this month.

Lord Taylor explained: We are looking to get timber out of landfill because currently an awful lot of waste timber is literally waste and that cant continue any longer.

One area the minister was particularly keen to highlight is that of food waste distribution. Just a few weeks ago, his department hosted a summit which brought together food waste distribution charities and retailers to help stop good, edible food, from being thrown away.

I think there is huge potential to reduce the amount of food waste and do something thats really worthwhile, he said.

Interest

It is nowaround ten months since Lord Taylor took over as recycling minister in September 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story), buthe revealedthat his interest in waste and recycling began much earlier.

He first became aware of recycling when working for his Lincolnshire family flower bulb business, Taylor Bulbs, which had an obligation to pay towards the costs of recycling packaging under the Packaging Regulations. And, more recently, he was involved with the waste sector through his involvement with the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group, which he co-chaired giving him a strong grounding in waste which has been welcomed by the sector.

Commenting on how he finds time for waste and recycling within his wider ministerial responsibilities -which range from bee health to air quality -he is adamant that waste is a big priority.

He said: Waste and recycling gets a lot of my time. When people ask what I do I say waste first.

MRFs

One of the biggest challenges which has faced Lord Taylors department, Defra, since his appointment has been the issue of material quality and requirement for separate collection of recyclables under the revised EU Waste Framework Directive.

The Department last week published amendments to its revised Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 which implement the Directives requirement into UK law, after a legal challenge was brought against its original interpretation (see letsrecycle.com story).

At the nub of the dispute is the argument of whether councils can continue to collect recyclables commingled and later sort them in a materials recycling facility (MRF) while still fulfilling the requirement of the Directive, or whether they should be collecting them in separate material streams to ensure quality.

Lord Taylor said he could not comment on the specifics, as the regulations still may be subject to legal proceedings in the form of a Judicial Review. However, he emphasised the importance of recycling quality and the development of the MRF code of practice, which aims to improve the standards of material which is mechanically sorted.

“I think they [MRFs] are going to have to aim to produce the same quality as kerbside sort and I think thats what the Code of Practice will be seeking to achieve, he said.

I think the technology in MRFs will be improving all the time. I have been going around and looking at different plants and they are becoming more complex and showing they are becoming capable of sorting materials better.

Flexibility

Lord Taylor added that it is very much the policy of this government to give councils flexibility to collect recyclables in the matter they see fit, as well in as in other areas, such as joint working, which the government is actively encouraging as it can create efficiencies and save councils money.

He said: We are anxious that local authorities should have a mind to the way in which they can work together and that is why I am keen on those partnerships which have been set up, such as the Somerset Waste Partnership.

Olympics

With all eyes on Olympics, with an official ceremony planned for later today, Lord Taylor said he hoped the event would help to imbed the idea of recycling and sustainability more widely.

The organisers of the games have set themselves targets for 70% of waste arising at Olympic venues to be reused, recycled or composted and zero sent to landfill.
I think the great thing about the Olympics is that it is emblematic of so many things and even the construction has been based on sustainability and reducing the environmental impacts of the development, Lord Taylor said.

The idea that bottles at the Olympics are reprocessed and filled again within six weeks is a great example of modern, closed loop recycling, he added, referring to plans to send bottles from the site to bottle recycling plant in Lincolnshire developed by Continuum Recycling a joint venture between Coca Cola and ECO Plastics.

Value

The minister said that only recently have people began to realise the value in things we no longer need. And, he emphasised the importance of making consumers, customers and householders feel like they are part of the process and can benefit from it.

I think feedback is really important. I like the idea that was companies feel they have a responsibility to inform their suppliers and with householders.