Lord Taylor was responding to concerns about the quality of materials that are produced through the collection of materials commingled which were raised by Jonathan Straight, managing director of recycling container firm Straight, with the Prime Minister David Cameron and business minister Mark Prisk.
Mr Straight explained to letsrecycle.com that in separate meetings he had asked the Prime Minister and Mr Prisk about the quality of what is collected for recycling.
Much of this is of such a poor quality that it cannot be used in the UK. It ends up in India or China, he said.
After not receiving an informed response at the meetings from either Mr Cameron or Mr Prisk, a follow-up letter was sent. Mr Straight said that in the letter he raised several concerns with Mr Prisk.
Contaminated
The letter noted that collecting materials commingled means that what we collect is often contaminated, one material with another. This is the problem. Material that could be collected by a kerbside sort method and which could be high quality and valuable, material which could lead to new businesses and enterprises and (according to Friends of the Earth) create tens of thousands of jobs, instead goes overseas. This is not only a wasted opportunity but in a time of commodity pressure is also bad for raw material security.
In a response to Mr Prisk on the issue, and subsequently sent on to Mr Straight, the recycling minister says that the government believes strongly that it is important for local authorities to be able to determine the most appropriate type of waste collection, both for residual waste and recycling. This enables local authorities to reflect local circumstances and demographics as well as working with their residents or customers to deliver a recycling service that they will use.
Designed
Lord Taylor then described how both source separate and commingled services were operatedbylocal authorities. He said: The government believes that well designed and run co-mingled collection systems are capable of delivering material of sufficient quality to meet the reprocessing industrys needs, in both the domestic and export markets. Nevertheless, we recognise that improvements can be made to how the recycling market operates to support the delivery of quality recycling.
And, the recycling minister then referred to the MRF code of practice which is being developed by the Environmental Services Association (ESA). He said: That is why Defra are working with the waste management industry to develop a MRF code of practice which will promote quality in the way materials are sorted. The code will establish a robust method for measuring the quality of the input and output material, which will give the MRFs customers (local authorities, businesses and reprocessors) confidence in the quality of recyclates and contamination levels. We are exploring ways of maximising uptake of the code, including the possibility of making it mandatory.
ESA view
David Sher, policy advisor for materials and energy recovery at ESA, said: “The Code of Practice requires MRFs to implement quality management systems and it increases the responsibility on operators to ensure their wastes are recycled to high standards, even when sent to third parties for further treatment. We believe these are things that should happen. Many operators are already doing this highly effectively, but we want to raise the bar across the board. We recognise that there could be costs to firms in implementing the procedures necessary to strengthen their internal systems.
Mr Sher added: Unless the code is mandatory, it may become more difficult for a MRF complying with the code to compete with a non-compliant facility for business and there may be a disincentive for operators to sign up. It needs to be mandatory if there is to be a level playing field for operators and a clear framework within which local authorities and businesses can compare offerings.
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