Over the years there have been variations in the amount of green waste collected and this has led to unexpected spikes or reductions in activity. This is usually related quite naturally to the growth of plants in unusually warm and wet months.
However, the situation facing the statisticians going forward is working out if the potential dips in green waste collections are more related to local authorities dropping borough or district wide schemes and moving to a charged service. Plus, some are dropping schemes because they no longer can afford to collect food waste at the same time and send it all to an IVC plant.
The organics sector tells stories of more organics being placed into the residual waste bin and it remains to be seen whether this is one factor behind the growth in residual waste rates. This ‘black sack’ green waste will not count for recycling and that old chestnut of not counting home composting as recycling will also see material lost.
Calorific
Potentially exacerbating the situation is that in some quarters there is said to be almost a desire to take some organics in the residual waste stream, as energy from waste plants at home and abroad need to ensure calorific values are not too high – on the Continent some plants are looking at how they can add organics into the incinerator mix.
The data also focuses attention on the need to collect more dry recyclables. Many people would imagine that a 44% recycling rate was just for dry recyclables.
Clearly there is still a big opportunity to collect more recyclables from the domestic waste stream and ‘on-the-go’ – only today there were reports of beaches awash with plastic bottles.
But, will anything be done?
Suez’ David Palmer-Jones suggests that with the 50% UK wide recycling target looming for 2020, the “top brass at Defra” will have the rate on its agenda.
At present, that may well be wishful thinking. Minister Rory Stewart appeared less than enthusiastic about targets in the Circular Economy Package when he spoke about the proposals in the Council of Ministers earlier this month.
And, the Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella let the cat out of the bag when he asked for the support of Member States for the new proposed targets but also reassured them that no-one had ever been prosecuted for failing to meet targets. No need to worry then about missing the 2020 target by a year or two!
Standstill
So, Defra – with farming pressures and legal action on the air quality front as well as a host of other issues looks unlikely to take any immediate action. A standstill will also be supported by other government departments including DCLG, the Cabinet Office and Treasury.
And, not all councillors are supportive of higher recycling or even a focus on waste and recycling within their budgets. I was told recently by one senior south London councillor that there was a waste mafia just wanting to take more money from council budgets and, separately, an officer made it clear that other services came before recycling.
To try and reach the 50% target, what will seem more likely is an effort to include some commercial waste recycling figures within the data as well as the addition of numbers for street sweepings and incinerator bottom ash.
Summit
Who can sort all this out? David Palmer-Jones suggests a ‘waste summit’. This would seem a logical step as Rory Stewart has also asked for advice from the recycling and waste sector in the face of stretched staffing and financial resources in his department.
Maybe this is an opportunity for WRAP, which was created to grow recycling, to step forward and use its new found charity status to lobby for the environment and recycling in a non-political manner so providing the independent route for the summit to take place.
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