Mr Goodfellow, who is managing director of SITA UK, took on his ESA role last month and talked last week to letsrecycle.com about his plans and hopes for his year in office. He says he was pleased to attend the summit which was held by Margaret Beckett, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Looking back at the event he says that he “certainly felt that the Secretary of State listened. The subsequent announcement of the PIU review to look at the strategy is a sign that the government has taken on board the view of the ESA and other bodies who want the strategy to move forward.”
Against this background of optimism that the government is taking waste issues more seriously, Mr Goodfellow says that he believes it needs to be recognised more that the industry can help, not only in policy terms but also in delivering the services needed. “The industry can certainly help with the input to the study and in delivering the output. The ESA has written to the Secretary of State and the PIU offering our support financially or we are willing to offer suitably qualified people who can contribute to the report itself.”
Strategy
On the contents of the strategy, the ESA, he says, does not disagree with the overall vision of the strategy to reduce waste volumes and to increase recycling. “But we still need to treat waste and ultimately there will still need to be the use of landfill. For municipal waste, we undoubtedly need various ways of collecting waste and then we need infrastructure to prepare these materials for use or disposal.”
Mr Goodfellow hopes that the fact that the review is being carried out by the PIU, which is part of the Cabinet Office, will bring a more consistent approach to the waste strategy. He feels that in that past there has often been work by a variety of government departments which doesn't always come together in an effective way.
Jenkinson
The new chairman (pictured below left) speaks highly of his predecessor, Stephen Jenkinson (right) of Greater Manchester Waste.
“Stephen has done a good job in strengthening the framework of the committee structure. We now have two main committees with direct access to the board. The past year also saw the integration of the EWA which was certainly a great step forward.”
He is keen to emphasise that the ESA is not just there for the larger companies. “The small and medium size businesses who are members are very important to the association and next year as chairman we will have Ross Ancell of Churngold Waste Management.”
The ESA has not always had the best of relationships with government and its officials. Mr Goodfellow believes the situation is improving but knows there is work still to be done. “I want to raise the status and stature of the ESA with government. We are talking about the ESA and its membership being more co-ordinated and consistent with its message. But, we also recognise that the government does have other people to talk to.”
Continued on page 2
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