A Conservative MP has this week proposed a law to require councils to reveal where their recyclables end up.
Peter Bottomley, Conservative member for Worthing West, presented the Waste Recycling (End Use Register) Bill in Westminster on Tuesday (November 30) as an Early Day Motion.
The Bill has received support from MPs including Clive Efford, Labour member for Eltham, Dom Foster, Liberal Democrat member for Bath and Caroline Lucas, Green member for Brighton Pavilion. However, by its nature as an Early Day Motion, the proposal is very unlikely to be debated and become law. Such proposals are instead used to raise awareness of a particular issue.
The news came as the Campaign for Real Recycling (CRR) – which campaigns for council to improve the quality of materials they collect on behalf of members including material reprocessors and has been lobbying for more transparency on the end use of materials – held a reception in the House of Commons.
The event was hosted by Labour MP for Newport East, Jessica Morden, who is a longstanding supporter of the CRR (see letsrecycle.com story).
It was sponsored by services firm May Gurney which delivers recycling services to councils and has in the past described itself as the ‘white knight’ of kerbside sort. This is where recyclables are not mixed together and which the CRR believes is a much better option.
Effect
Presenting the Bill, Mr Bottomley said: “If this Bill becomes an Act, it will have a positive and tightening effect on the drive for quality and transparency in the UK recycling collection system, and it will certainly improve public confidence and participation in recycling. Improving quality of recycling material will mean more UK reprocessing of materials and more green jobs generally.”
Ms Morden said: “Local authorities are meant to be able to identify what happens to materials collected by them or their contractors as part of a general approach to Duty of Care but some cannot categorically state where their recycling goes to, or in the worst cases even if it is recycled at all.
“Stories about recyclable materials that end up in landfill and sometimes outside the UK are damaging to public confidence in recycling.”
Somerset
Nicola Peake, managing director of May Gurney, said that councils should follow the example set in Somerset, where the council waste partnership publishes where all its recyclables are sent (see letsrecycle.com story). May Gurney is currently its collection contractor.
She said: “Keeping tabs on destinations is something authorities should be doing anyway and for those that are, publishing a register will not be a burden.
“A good practice example is Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), which was the first to publish such a register and makes it available on its website, encouraging Somerset householders to find out more about what actually happens to their recycling.”
Wales
In October 2010, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) urged councils to divulge where their recyclables end up. However, the WAG stopped short of making this a statutory duty due to concerns over cost and its impact on competition (see letsrecycle.com story).
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