WRAP chairman hits out over newspaper article

The article put forward the views of the Campaign for Real Recycling, which is opposed to the sorting of recyclables at materials recycling facilities. It is supported by Paperchain, which represents the recovered paper sector, and some other reprocessors including Novelis. Last week Paperchain revealed it had dropped support for WRAP's Recycle Now Week (see letsrecycle.com story).

We have spent a lot of money on encouraging people to recycle. This will undo a lot of the good work that was done.

 
Vic Cocker, WRAP

Chris White of Kent-based Aylesford Newsprint, which purchases hundreds of thousands of tonnes of used newspapers each year, was reported in the Sunday Times as saying: “Whenever it comes from one of these recovery facilities, it is often too bad for us to use. It's dirty and usually mixed with plastic bottles and cans. We can't use those and they go to landfill.”

The paper painted a gloomy view of recycling and implied that large volumes of recyclables were being landfilled. It wrote of Aylesford using its own landfill site: “The pit is operated by Aylesford Newsprint, a local company that only recycles paper, and each year it reluctantly buries about 9,000 tons of plastics, glass and metals.”

Mr Cocker said: “The article in the Sunday Times was quite damaging, we have spent a lot of money on encouraging people to recycle. This will undo a lot of the good work that was done.”

He added: “95% of what is picked up a the kerbside is recycled and these reports can easily undo the good work that was done.”

Mr Cocker was speaking at a meeting of the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group in Westminster, which was also attended by environment minister Ben Bradshaw.

Minister

The minister said he was pleased to hear that the recycling figure for kerbside material was 95% “because my officials have not been able to give that figure to me.” Mr Bradshaw said that the figure would be useful as a rebuttal to the claims that material is not being recycled.

And, he added that he has made the point this week that if the reprocessors “didn't want the material, they should not take it in.”

Others in the audience told letsrecycle.com that they felt Aylesford Newsprint should be making more effort to recycle the cans from the waste at the plant. One waste expert present said: “If Aylesford Newsprint is using 500,000 tonnes of used papers each year, then 9,000 tonnes of contamination represents only a small percentage of what it receives. Furthermore, the company is facing price pressure from higher waste paper prices and the higher Landfill Tax.”

WRAP also came in for some criticism from audience members. A senior recycling sector member said that the organisation had failed to get to grips with the issue of materials recycling facilities. He said: “While Vic Cocker is here tonight we would have expected to see Liz Goodwin, the new WRAP chief. She appears to be taking a low profile since she took up her new post.”

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Cocker appeared to be unaware of the fact that PaperChain had actually told his organisation back in March that it would not support the Recycle Now Week.

Reiterating his concerns about the Clean Recycling Campaign and the Sunday Times article, he said: “The point that I would like to make is that this is the time that we should not be fragmenting and undermining a lot of the good work being done.”