Public must “get used to paying” for waste services

The survey, conducted by municipal waste management company Verdant, also saw a two-thirds majority of surveyed recycling officers revealing a belief that for recycling services to improve, a rise in the Council Tax will be needed.

” Councils face a dilemma as they are being pressurised to improve recycling rates, yet perceive they are hampered by both funding and bureaucracy.“
– Roger Edwards, Verdant
Verdant, which carried out its survey at a recent open day event at hosted by Chiltern district council in Amersham.

The findings have been released to coincide with this week's Local Government Association annual conference in Bournemouth.

According to the surveyed local authorities, the biggest barrier to increased recycling is a lack of funding.

Other major barriers cited included a lack of disposal facilities and government bureaucracy.

Powers
Public “inertia” and a lack of legal powers were also brought up as factors holding back recycling. The survey suggested that both “carrot” and “stick” approaches – incentive and punitive measures – would work best to increase public participation in recycling.

Roger Edwards, development director at Verdant, said: “Councils face a dilemma as they are being pressurised to improve recycling rates, yet perceive they are hampered by both funding and bureaucracy.

“As recycling expansion is top of their agenda, they are seriously considering other recycling options, such as green and kitchen waste as well as tough decisions about finding the required funding from council tax increases or resident fees,” he added.

The Verdant open day was designed to give local authorities insights into recycling developments including kitchen and green waste recycling schemes, the WEEE Directive, bin weighing technology, recycling education and communication and in-vessel composting.

The government is currently considering the findings of a public consultation into England's long-term waste strategy (see letsrecycle.com story). A new strategy expected later this year could include new measures to increase recycling participation.