The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) hit out at the national newspaper articles which claimed collections were a health risk and the Daily Mail campaign which has called for a return to weekly waste collections.
 LARAC believes the recycling and waste sector has got to think about how to get balance into the media on waste issues |
In a statement, LARAC, which represents more than 400 council recycling officers across the UK, branded as “irresponsible the bandwagon that has been developed on the back of half truths and opinion instead of facts and reality.”
But while LARAC has “grave concerns” over the reporting, chairman Lee Marshall believes local authorities need to play more of a part in making sure publicity is fair.
He told letsrecycle.com today: “We probably could do more to inform the press and we have got to think about how we get balance into the media. Although, I am slightly cynical as to whether it would be listened to.”
Debate
Mr Marshall said: “Normally we would welcome waste issues being debated in the national media – but a debate implies that you listen to both sides and use reason and intelligence to carry your case. Certain papers are peddling their own agenda and trying to form public opinion instead of reflecting it.”
Mr Marshall said the issue was much wider than alternate weekly waste collections and the media should look at the way people produce waste in the first place.
He used the example of buying shrink-wrapped items from a supermarket and he praised The Independent newspaper for bringing this waste minimization debate to the table.
Health
The newspapers which are opposed to alternate weekly waste collections largely raise concerns on health grounds and the presence of flies and rats. Mr Marshall believes common-sense precautions such as making sure waste is well-wrapped can reduce this, as outlined in Defra-commissioned research in March.
Defra concluded that alternate weekly collections pose no risk to public health, although residents have written to newspapers claiming this is not the case. Mr Marshall said that in extreme cases some people may experience adverse health effects but for the majority of residents, this was not the case and he felt certain news papers “are amplifying the minority opinion rather than the majority.”
He added: “When you survey residents who have used alternate weekly collections for a period of time they state that the collection scheme is easy to use and frequent enough for them.”
Appropriate
The LARAC chairman, who is a council officer in the Welsh county of Powys, said similar debates had arisen when wheelie bins and kerbside collections were first introduced. He said: “LARAC believes that local authorities should choose the most appropriate collection method for their area. In some cases alternate weekly collections will not be the most appropriate solution, but in others it will.
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“Councils face tough choices if they are to contribute to stemming climate change but the continued increase in recycling rates across the country shows that the majority of people support and agree that they need to take more responsibility for the waste that they produce.
“If you are a parent it is all well and good putting money away for your child’s future education but that is small change compared to the greater cost to the future planet by not saving your waste for the recycling collection,” Mr Marshall said.
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