The survey was held by the CIWM collection, recycling and cleansing special interest group, with questionnaires being sent to organisations including Defra, the Local Government Association (LGA), and National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO).
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, Tina Benfield, CIWM's senior technical officer, explained that the questionnaires were sent out to gather sector-wide opinions on the subject, following discussions by the special interest group over the past year.
The issue of standardising collections has already been raised this year, with the LGA and industry-backed Packaging Recycling Action Group consulting councils in August about the idea of having just five or six recycling collection systems across the UK (see letsrecycle.com story).
Support
And, LARAC's response to the CIWM consultation acknowledged the high level of support for standardising collections, with container colour a key aspect of that.
“There is clearly very strong public demand, as well as political, for a more unformed approach to waste collection in the UK and it is out view that local authorities are also supportive of adopting a more joined up approach to waste collection where possible,” it said.
“The variations in container colour is seen by the public as an area where a consistent approach should be used and we believe that guidance should be provided to assist local authorities in knowing what colour receptacles they should purchase if they wish to follow an agreed UK system,” it added.
LARAC favoured a national colour-coding system for all types of containers, including recycling on-the-go receptacles, litter bins, waste and recycling containers for both household and commercial waste and for private companies recycling facilities in areas such as airports and hospitals.
Explaining its support for a national system, it said: “A national colour coding system would very visibly demonstrate the UK's commitment towards more simplified waste collection schemes.
“It would provide the public with a clear message that a receptacle in a particular colour is recyclable/compostable and a receptacle in another colour is for residual waste,” it added.
Voluntary
LARAC's response stressed that any guidelines should be voluntary and not compulsory, despite acknowledging that it may take longer to implement if they were not compulsory.
It explained this would be “much more acceptable to local authorities in terms of ease of implementation and it would assist those local authorities where changing receptacle colour could be a highly political decision, which is likely to be majority.”
Costs
LARAC also revealed some reservations about how a system would be introduced, in particular stressing that “it is absolutely essential that any system being introduced does not result in any additional costs for local authorities.”
It also warned that any system could face a difficult reaction from both the media and the general public, and cause contamination issues.
While a national system “would improve communication, particularly on a regional and national scale, it may amplify frustration that the same materials cannot be collected,” it said.
“Furthermore, any communication regarding certain items being recycled in a blue box for instance may get seen by a resident in another local authority area with a blue box, which doesn't accept the same items.”
“This could result in more contamination on items that can be recycled but are not accepted in specific schemes,” it added.
LARAC acknowledged that the 'Recycle Now's colour classification had been adopted by many local authorities, but said that it did not provide councils on what guidance on what colour to purchase.
LARAC also warned that: “There is a risk that adoption of national colour coding system for the UK at this time may be seen by the media as 'shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted' as many local authorities have now implemented schemes and they are not looking to radically change in the near future.”
Responses
Ms Benfield explained that, in general, responses to the questionnaire had showed that “people said they liked the idea”, but that different respondents had raised a range of issues that any system might raise, offering the political and commercial associations of some colours as examples.
And, she said that, after considering the responses received, CIWM may issue its own position statement on the subject in the future.
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