The verdict echoed the conclusion last month of MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee, which said the government was “timid” about waste, adding that progress had been “depressingly slow” and the government had provided “inadequate funding” (see letsrecycle.com story).
David Curry, chairman of the Committee said: “The easy option of dumping virtually everything into landfill is closing down. Reducing the volume of waste and diverting waste from landfill requires a determined response from government – and that has so far been lacking.”
Variable charging
The committee recommended that variable household charging and graduated disposal taxes should be used to generate extra funds, saying the government relied too heavily on Landfill Tax alone and should be quicker to raise this to 35 per tonne.
It added that it was “concerned” that the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Environment Agency “lacked the necessary funds and expertise to make real progress in respect of waste management.”
Criticised
The MPS also criticised the government's lack of direction in waste policy. “Despite warm words from DEFRA ministers, the department does not seem to have a real sense of where it wants to go,” the report said.
The report comes on the same day that DEFRA revealed municipal waste recycling in England grew by 1.2% last year from 12.3% to 13.5% (see letsrecycle.com story).
Conservative MP Mr Curry said: “Addressing the issue is a matter of urgency. Quite apart from the environmental damage and economic wastage of the current approach to waste management, the government is obliged by European legislation to change tack.”
DEFRA said the report should be available on the Committee's home page later today.
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