Reuse to be counted in council targets

The Furniture Re-Use Network has welcomed government changes to council recycling targets which enable reuse to be counted for the first time.

Reuse will also be counted against NI 191, which refers to residual waste not reused, recycled or composted.

Unveiled in technical guidance last week (see letsrecycle.com story), the indicators differ from recycling targets which have up until now only focused on recycling and composting, and therefore discouraged some councils from supporting re-use.

At present, it is estimated that only a quarter of local authorities pay disposal reuse credits to re-use charities.

Praising the changes, the FRN – which is the umbrella organisation of the community re-use sector – said that reuse was finally getting some of the recognition it deserved, and would encourage councils to boost re-use.

Caroline Lee-Smith, development officer at the FRN, said: “For the first time, from this April, local authorities have the power to count tonnages reused by the voluntary sector. This has been a major obstacle to joint working over the years, as because they couldn't count it many of our members have been excluded from aligning their services with local authority bulk waste services.”

The Department of Communities and Local Government Guidance lays down 3 ways in which tonnages reused can be counted:

• Waste items that are in the possession of a Waste Collection Authority (WCA)/Waste Disposal Authoriy (WDA) that are then sent for reuse.
• Items for reuse separated  by third parties on behalf of a WCA/WDA
• Items for which collection or disposal reuse credits are paid.

Ms Lee-Smith said that the move would improve relationships between councils and re-use organisations.

She said: “This guidance enshrines the rights of reuse organisations to receive credits for both the collections they run, as well as the tonnage they save from disposal routes. Currently, only a quarter of local authorities in England current pay disposal reuse credits, while none pay reasonable collection credits.

“I expect to see many more local authorities engaging with reuse organisations and contributing to the good work they do keeping bulky items from disposal”, she added.

• Local authority performance indicators are to be discussed in detail at this year's Recycling and Waste Forum 2008, to be held on April 16-17 in Birmingham.