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Waste Review should make SME recycling easier

By Nick Mann

Small businesses should be given better access to household waste recycling centres in tomorrows Waste Review to reduce their waste management costs and make it easier for them to recycle more.

Thats the message from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which today (June 13) also called on the government to use the Review to reduce the red tape small firms face when managing their waste by removing the duty of care from those who only produce small quantities of waste.

David Caro, environment committee chairman at the FSB, said giving small firms access to HWRCs would be a 'quick win'
David Caro, environment committee chairman at the FSB, said giving small firms access to HWRCs would be a ‘quick win’

And, it said Defra should take action to make it easier for the UKs 4.9 million small businesses to access waste services offered by both councils and waste management companies at a competitive rate.

In a report published ahead of the Waste Review, entitled The waste review the small business case, the FSB said its research had shown that 95% of small businesses would recycle more if they had better access to better facilities.

But, it said small businesses face acute difficulties with accessing suitable waste and recycling services, either because local authorities dont run a waste or recycling service for SMEs or because the small volumes of waste they produce mean they cant attract commercial companies services.

It also claimed that the LATS system further distorts the market for SMEs because of fear among local authorities of exceeding their LATS allowances through dealing with SME waste. This either prevents councils from running a service or means they do so at a very high price the FSB claimed.

Policy initiatives

In light of these issues, it called for a range of short- term policy initiatives, such as:

  • Providing access to household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) for small businesses. The FSB said if councils did this for a small charge it would increase access to waste services and help small firms to recycle more;
  • Removing duty-of-care regulation for small firms for small quantities of waste;
  • Exploring the potential for large food retailers such as supermarkets to be asked to act as collection centres for food waste from small retailers;
  • Looking at the out of date EU definition of waste to reduce the administrative burden on businesses;
  • Offering clear and transparent contract terms to ensure small businesses are treated fairly by their waste contractors;
  • Taking a lighter touch to enforcement of small businesses that knowingly fail to comply with waste regulation.

Planning

The FSB also called for long-term action to change the planning process to address a lack of suitable storage space for recyclates by ensuring there is adequate storage space in new and refurbished commercial premises.

And, it said there should be a focus on upstream initiatives that could design waste out of products during the manufacturing stage.

Commenting on the FSBs proposals, its environment committee chairman, David Caro, said: Small businesses are keen to do their bit for the environment but need to have access to the right facilities available locally. Many small firms produce a similar amount of waste to that of a household, yet they cannot use the same facilities and often find that they are at the mercy of an uncompetitive waste and recycling market.

“Giving small firms access to household waste and recycling centres would be a quick win that would make the lives of so many small businesses easier when it comes to managing their waste responsibly.

He added: “While it is right to regulate how businesses handle their waste, firms that produce very small amounts are still subject to the same red tape as larger businesses and so reforming the duty of care regulation for very small firms would be a step in the right direction.”

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