Appearing at the Environmental Industries Commission’s annual conference in London earlier, Mr Stewart spoke about standardised collection systems, government spending on the environment and the importance of technology and innovation in the environmental sector.
Asked about his current priorities for waste and recycling, Mr Stewart said: “For me the one that I am focused on most at the moment is the craziness that we have over 300 recycling systems in Britain. So we really need to find a way of coordinating that.”
Costs
Reiterating similar comments he made at the Conservative Party conference in October, (see letsrecycle.com story), he said standardisation and consistency would be “difficult” but added that “I believe we can get down to around five or six systems”, which would help to save taxpayers’ money and “drive down costs”.
Mr Stewart remarked that “for some councils it is a real piece of pride” to organise their own collections, suggesting that this was one of the more high profile ways in which residents directly interacted with council services.
He also suggested that there were particular issues in collecting glass and paper together but that he believed finding a solution would also present “real opportunities” for the sector.
Defra officials have been working with a WRAP-led Harmonisation and Consistency Sub-Group looking at more standardised collection systems by local authorities in the UK. WRAP confirmed last week that the Group is currently looking at a number of different collection system options (see letsrecycle.com story).
EIC
“There is a feeling among many politicians in the government that the environment is just bad politics”
Matthew Farrow
Environmental Industries Commission
Opening the conference earlier, EIC executive director Matthew Farrow – formerly of the Environmental Services Association – called for government to take more interest in environmental issues.
And, he highlighted Eric Pickles’ spat with the local authorities over bin collection systems as an example of the “bumpy ride” for environment and politics over the last five years.
Mr Farrow noted: “There is a feeling among many politicians in the government that the environment is just bad politics and just doesn’t give them votes.”
And, he added that Defra Secretary of State Liz Truss, “tends to steer clear of environmental issues and leave that to Rory Stewart”, but he accepted that as it was still early days in the new government “the jury is still out” on the Secretary of State.
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