This is the second time that Mr Georgeson, who has substantial recycling experience, has been seconded to the civil service. He joined the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, to help it draw up the strategy which led to the creation of WRAP.
Mr Georgeson, who is WRAP’s director of policy and communication, has been seconded to the PIU project and will work part-time for the Cabinet Office and part-time for WRAP. Jane Price, communications manager at the Institute of Wastes Management has also joined the team.
Mr Georgeson and Ms Price will form a vital part of a team of six who will carry out much of the review work. The team will also include officials from DEFRA and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The study will be lead by Paul Hollinshead, an analyst at the Cabinet Office, who said: “The research is looking at what is causing the barriers to reducing waste and increasing recycling and will look at how do we overcome them as waste in most households is not high priority.”
While he has no direct knowledge of recycling and waste management, Mr Hollinshead said: “We have got people who know the subject working on the team. My job is to take an objective view of the problem.”
And, he explained that the work will be carried out in phases. “The first phase of the study will be a review of the work that has already been carried out and will look at where we are now. The later phases of the study will look at how we move forward. This is likely to involve more stakeholder development in February and March.”
Ann Hemming of DEFRA is currently working on constructing a support group which will contain experts from the waste industry. And an advisory board, which will be set up above the team, will be made up of DEFRA, DTI, Treasury and local authority representatives and be chaired by the Secretary of State Margaret Beckett. Mr Hollinshead will report to the advisory board when necessary.
He added that the research team would also like to look at waste minimisation strategies and ways to encourage waste minimising behaviour. The study will also give recommendations and suggest further work for other organisations to carry out.
Shortly, the Cabinet Office is setting up a dedicated website which will allow people to post their comments about the project on the site. It is expected that the research work will be finished by next summer.
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