And, they also paid tribute to the active interest taken in waste by his predecessor Lord Henley during his year-and-a-half in the role. While he was recycling minister, Lord Henley helped carry out a wide-ranging Waste Policy Review (see letsrecycle.com story) and went on a number of visits to recycling facilities most recently in Preston (see letsrecycle.com story).
Steve Lee, chief executive of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) the professional body which represents waste professionals – said that Lord Taylors appointment on Friday came as a surprise to everyone in the waste sector, but that his past experience meant he should have a lot to offer(see letsrecycle.com story).
He said: CIWM is pleased that we have gota newminister with some experience when it comes to our issues. Not only because he was co-chair of the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group (APSRG) but we very much like the fact that he has ministerial experience on broader issues such as climate change and energy. As an industry we are becoming more diverse and broadening our focus and his appointment reflects this.
Mr Lee added that CIWM was very sorry to lose Lord Henley given he had put so much effort into understanding the waste sector. He said: We would like to thank Lord Henley from the sector for showing such an active interest. We hope that Lord Taylor will commit as much time and energy to it.
ESA
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) which represents waste management companies also praised the work of Lord Henley and said it expected Lord Taylor to build on this.
ESA director of policy Matthew Farrow said: We are looking forward to Lord Taylor building on the good work undertaken by Lord Henley. We hope to meet with Lord Taylor in the near future and will be discussing with him how we can work to deliver the actions as set out in the Waste Review.
Also welcoming the appointment, the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR) pointed out that Lord Taylor had attended the last two cross-party AfOR round table dinners showing an active interest in recycling issues.
AfOR managing director Jeremy Jacobs said: These dinners provide AfOR directors the opportunity to inform ministers of their concerns and successes within the sector and discuss opportunities for overcoming any pressing issues through legislative change.
Local authorities
Local authorities were similarly positive about the appointment of Lord Taylor and praisedthe achievements of Lord Henley.
Joy Blizzard, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), said: LARAC welcomes the appointment of Lord Taylor of Holbeach. We are pleased to see that he has previously taken a personal interest in waste and recycling matters which can only be a good thing. We are sorry to see Lord Henley go. His interest in waste issues was appreciated.
A spokesman for the Local Government Association added: If new experience is brought in that is a good thing. We will want to engage with the new minister as we worked positively with Lord Henley previously.
FoE
Friends of the Earthis alsooptimistic about Lord Taylors appointment. However the environmental campaign group was critical of his predecessor and urged the new minister to be more ambitious over waste than Lord Henley had been.
Julian Kirby, resource use campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: We look forward to working with Lord Taylor. He has a good environmental track record in that he worked on the Climate Change Act in opposition in the Lords.
Lord Henleys track record meanwhile has been disappointing at the best of times. The Waste Review which was developed under his leadership lacked any decent ambition. It promised goals and in the end all we had were goals required for us by Europe.
“We hope that Lord Taylor will inject some genuine ambition for waste prevention and boosting reuse and recycling. We hope for some reform of the tax system we want a residual waste tax to replace landfill tax. On landfill bans we are hopeful Lord Taylor will bring that forward with a bit more gusto.”
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