Initiatives across the UK map out how recycling targets can be hit

With Parliament closed for the summer recess, and in the wake of the departmental

shifts which have given rise to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural

Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions

(DTLR), there has been little development on the recycling and waste minimisation

front in the last few weeks.

Reflecting the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Packaging’s task

force that there needed to be more collection of materials from the household

waste stream if the UK was to meet the higher packaging waste recovery targets,

Mr Hewitt also said that compliance schemes could play a part in helping councils

to increase recycling rates and meet the targets.

Wales sets targets

Last month (July), the Welsh Minister for the Environment, Sue Essex, launched

the National Assembly for Wales’ draft Waste Strategy for consultation.

Acknowledging that Wales is near the bottom of the European league in waste

management, with one of the lowest municipal waste recycling rates in Europe

(5%), it is not surprising, therefore, that waste minimisation, segregation

of waste at source, and recycling and composting are key strategic policies.

The draft strategy states that local authorities in Wales will need to introduce

“comprehensive schemes for the separate kerbside collection of recyclable

and compostable materials” and the Assembly has proposed targets to ensure

that the recycling and composting rates for municipal waste improve significantly

beyond the current average.

The preferred targets are:

• by 2003/4 to achieve 15% recycling /composting of municipal waste with a minimum

  of 5% composting (with only compost derived from source segregated materials

  counting) and 5% recycling

• by 2006/07 to achieve 25% recycling/composting of municipal waste with a minimum

  of 10% composting and 10% recycling

• by 2009/10 to achieve 40% recycling/composting of municipal waste with a minimum

  of 15% composting and 15% recycling

The Assembly intends to achieve diversion of biodegradable municipal waste

from landfill by allocating yearly permits to each local authority, but the

decision as to whether these permits will be tradable has not yet been made.

Waste minimisation targets have also been proposed across all sectors, including

waste arisings per household, biodegradable and non-biodegradable industrial

and commercial waste, and hazardous waste.

Prior to the launch of the draft Waste Strategy, Ms Essex announced a three-year,

£40 million funding package to assist local authorities to implement the

strategy and meet the targets. Grants have been awarded to each of the 22 local

authorities in Wales to promote increased recycling and composting and develop

more sustainable ways of managing waste.

Ms Essex said: “This three-year indicative funding programme is a first

for Wales. It is an example of how the Assembly is working in partnership with

local authorities to deliver a cleaner and better future for waste management.

“Although we recognise these targets are challenging and exceed those proposed

for local authorities in England, they have already been achieved or exceeded

by some local authorities across Britain and elsewhere in Europe.”

However, while the targets are high, they will not be statutory; instead, local

authorities will form “Policy Agreements” with the Assembly. For the

first of these agreements, the Assembly is asking local authorities to achieve

a combined recycling and composting target of 15% by 2003/4, with at least 5%

for each. If it becomes evident sufficient progress is not being made within

this framework to ensure that obligations under EU legislation at the all-Wales

level are achieved, the Assembly has indicated that it will consider setting

statutory Best Value Performance Standard targets.

In order to allow local authorities to plan ahead the Assembly intends to issue

firm figures for the first year and indicative figures for the following two

years.

Of the total £3 million allocated for 2001-02, local authorities will

receive £1,500,000, while the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)

will receive £650,000 to promote markets for recycled materials.

For 2002-03 and £2003-04 the Assembly has issued indicative figures of

£11.3 million and £22.4 million, respectively, to local authorities.

Municipal waste trends

According to the latest summary results from the DETR’s (now DEFRA) Municipal

Waste Management Survey for 1999/2000, municipal waste arisings have risen 5%

from 27.9 to 29.3 million tonnes, with the average per household rose from 26kg

per week, compared to a 1998/9 figure of 25kg.

While there has been a slight increase in the absolute amount of municipal

waste going to landfill, the proportion of waste disposed of in this way has

dropped by one per cent to 81%. In total, just over 5.5 million tonnes (19%)

of municipal waste was subject to recovery (recycling, composting, energy recovery)

compared to 17% in 1998/99.

The recycling and recovery rates for England and Wales increased from 8.8%

in 1998/99 to 10.3% in 1999/2000, while the total municipal waste recovery rate

(recycling, composting and energy recovery) rose from 17.5% to 19.1% over the

same period.

WRAP unveils business plan

Following its launch in November of last year, the £40 million Waste and

Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has produced its Business Plan outlining how

it aims to bring about a step-change in the UK’s approach to waste management

and recycling.

The plan covers the next five years and the objectives include meeting the official

Waste Strategy 2000 targets by 2005 and laying the ground for a radical shift

in society’s attitudes to waste. The new organisation believes British business

should be aiming to achieve a 60% recycling rate from a current average rate

of around 35%.

Launching the new Business Plan, WRAP chairman Vic Cocker said: “Our programme

of activities is going to affect businesses and households throughout the UK.

WRAP is merely the catalyst for changes which are inevitable and which are already

happening elsewhere in the world.

WRAP’s effectiveness will rely upon its ability to help remove the obstacles

investment in new reprocessing capacity for materials recovered from the waste

stream and to stimulate markets.

Detailed in the Business Plan are ambitious targets across seven programmes.

These include:

• paper – supporting investment that will create new manufacturing capacity

  to deliver a 500,000 tonne a year increase (50%) in newspaper recycling

• plastics – securing a 20,000 tonne increase in mixed plastics reprocessing

  for industrial products

• doubling wood packaging recovery to 350,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2003/4
• glass – securing an extra 350,000 tonnes of glass a year from all sources

  for recycling, including 100,000 tonnes from commercial sources

• procurement – commitment from at least half of all local authorities to adopt

  a “buy recycled” policy, tailored to suit their local circumstances

  by end 2003/4;

• financial mechanisms – attracting at least another £10 million investment

  a year in reprocessing capacity with the potential to leverage investment through

  WRAP’s own resources

• standards and specifications – a programme of standards development and implementation

  for compost products in 2001/2 completed by the end of 2003/4.