Worcestershire council slams recycling smears

Last month, Defra published figures from its WasteDataFlow database (see letsrecycle.com story) which showed that more than 14,000 tonnes of materials collected for recycling by Worcestershire was sent to landfill.

This prompted criticisms from the local press that efforts to boost recycling in the county were “useless.”

However, Worcestershire's cabinet member for the environment, councillor Derek Prodger, has pointed out that the statistics included 13,000 tonnes of timber which was “re-used” on landfill sites.

This is because official government guidance no longer allows the material to be counted as recycled.

Cllr Prodger said: “I feel more than a little disappointed that some reporters have seemingly ignored the fact that a large percentage of those 14,000 tonnes has been re-used but the recorded figures cannot reflect this.”

“All of our district councils are over-performing when it comes to current Government recycling targets, so to suggest that most of it is useless is very misleading,” he stressed.

Cllr Prodger said that, of the 41,500 tonnes of recyclables collected from the kerbside in Worcestershire, only 1,600 tonnes was actually rejected from sorting facilities.

He said: “The fact is that less the four per cent of recycled materials are what we'd call contaminated and therefore unsuitable for use to use again.”

Guidance

According to Audit Commission guidance, which was amended in early 2007, household wood and other waste that has been shredded that it used for temporary roads on landfill sites can not be counted towards recycling but instead must county towards disposal.

This is because the government holds that by being used on a landfill site, the material is effectively landfilled.

Explaining the reasoning, the commission explained: “In the case of material placed on a landfill, shredded wood would decompose eventually and is likely to be left in the landfill with other waste deposited in that landfill. It is therefore effectively landfilled”

It added: “Furthermore, wood, being biodegradable, means that placing it on landfills counts against LATS allowances.”

LATS

The discussion over how waste materials should be classified came after Defra published the responses to its consultation on the definition of municipal waste under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS).

The exercise was launched because some councils were concerned that there was difference between the practical definition of municipal waste used in government guidance and the legal definition contained within the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003 (WET).

Under WET, municipal waste is classified as “waste from households and other waste that, because of its nature of composition, is similar to waste from households”.

However, the government defines it as is “all waste.. in the possession of or under the control of a waste collection authority.”

Of the 116 opinions recorded- from councils and the waste management industry – over 99% agreed that the current definition should be clarified.

A majority of theses agreed that the Government's preferred option C- to change the WET act definition – was the right course of action, with many councils preferring option B – to amend government guidance instead.

Writing in a response from the North London Waste Authority, chair Cllr Brian Coleman suggested that the issued waste now taken up with Europe.

He said: “Whilst the Authority believes that the Government has correctly identified the only practical way forward (Option C), the Authority nevertheless suggests most strongly that the Government secures the above confirmation from the European Union, and consults further on the detail of how it intends to change the WET Act so that it can create the certainty and security that is essential for the multi-billion pound contracts that this Authority and others will be entering into.”

The WasteDataFlow system and local authority performance on waste will be key topics of discussion on Day One of the Recycling and Waste Forum, a major conference taking place in Birmingham on April 16 and 17. For more details click here >>