Today (14/10/03), the bill received its third and final reading in the House of Lords today and will go for Royal Assent within the next few days.
The Household Waste Recycling Act 2003, as it will become after Royal Assent, places a duty upon local authorities to provide a collection of at least two types of recyclable waste from every household by the year 2010.
The private member's bill was introduced in Parliament by Joan Ruddock, MP for Lewisham and Deptford, having been drafted by pressure group Friends of the Earth.
Commenting on the bill's success, Ms Ruddock said: “This is an incredibly popular measure across the country. Nine out of 10 people say they want to recycle more. Greater collections from the doorstep will transform the prospects of recycling in England and Wales. Although the bill makes is compulsory for only two recyclable waste streams to be collected, I expect that the economics of recycling will result in local authorities collecting at least three or four waste streams.”
Powerful
The original draft of the bill had included the introduction of a 50% recycling rate target for 2010. However, that was dropped in the parliamentary committee stages and the recycling target for 2010 remains 30%, as set out in the government's Waste Strategy.
The legislation means the provision of kerbside collections for recyclables for the 54% of English households currently without. This means an additional 11 million residences will have to be incorporated into collection schemes by 2010.
Claire Wilton, senior waste campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “The public has been crying out for an easy way to recycle for many years. Now every home in England will have its recycling collected – something Friends of the Earth has campaigned about for over two years. We’re delighted about this powerful new law which should lead to a dramatic increase in the UK’s recycling rate, which is still one of the worst in Europe.”
Easy
Waste awareness organisation Waste Watch welcomed the bill's progression to UK law.
Doreen Fedrigo, manager of policy, research and information at Waste Watch, said: “Waste Watch welcomes as a victory the Household Waste Recycling Act, a small step closer to the provision of more convenient recycling or the UK public. Making it as easy as it is to throw rubbish in the bin means people can more easily make this positive environmental decision and participate in this community activity. Local authorities not currently providing a kerbside service or collection only one material will now need to meet the aims of the act long before 2010.”
Further information on the Household Waste Recycling Bill can be found on the letsrecycle.com legislation page .
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