Responses are due in a week today on WRAP’s business plan working paper six
on procurement. It also contains important proposals for industry, drawing heavily on the
experiences of the Clean Washington Center in the United States which launched a number
of projects to get manufacturers to use more recycled material in their products and
encouraged purchasers to buy more goods made from recycled material.
To promote best practice in the collection of high quality material from the
municipal waste stream WRAP suggests four initiatives.
The first would involve compilation of a best practice guide for local authorities on
the best methods of collecting recyclables, focusing on high participation rates, high recovery
rates and low levels of contamination. The second would see the guide used in the Best
Value system for the selection of collection contractors, for example by including within it
clear recommendations which could be used to judge the quality element of waste collection
tenders. And thirdly, to integrate this into a recycling performance benchmarking programme
for local authorities, to be produced in conjunction with relevant agencies.
A fourth area would see the development of a training programme for managers
and operational staff in collection agencies, including local authorities and the community
and private sectors to support the development of benchmarking and performance
improvement.
Exemplar companies
Under WRAP’s plans for industry there would be a quality/standards approach, an
exemplar companies scheme and a quality sourcing initiative in an attempt to build the
confidence of buyers and specifiers in the quality of recycled materials.
Under the exemplar companies scheme, WRAP hopes to raise awareness of the
potential for using recycled materials and to disseminate best practice within specific sectors.
It suggests doing this by singling out five exemplar companies, each one in a in different
sector, which already have a good record on the use of recycled materials and products.
Work would be carried out with them to discover why they use those materials, the
benefits of doing so and any problems they have encountered. Then five other companies in
each sector would receive guidance using the information gathered from the exemplar firm.
Comments on the commercial instruments consultation document are invited by
February 19 and should be sent to Ray Georgeson, policy director, WRAP, 8th Floor, 43
Marsham Street, London SW1P 3PY, tel: 020 7944 8861, fax: 020 7944 8864, email: WRAP policy
Further details are also available at the WRAP website.
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