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Friends of the Earth urges the Government to get sorted on waste

Oct 30 2007

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to get its policies on waste sorted to boost recycling and composting and avoid building any new incinerators [1]. This follows a fortnight of confusion over whether the Government will allow councils to give financial incentives to those who recycle more.

Friends of the Earth's senior waste campaigner, Michael Warhurst said:

"It's time for the Government to get their waste policies sorted so that councils can offer financial rewards to those who recycle more. The endless in-fighting is preventing important action that would help us to tackle our growing waste problem, save valuable resources and cut emissions of climate change gases. We already pay for other utilities as we use them, and these schemes work well in other countries."

This plea comes as a Public Accounts Committee report calls for more to be done to get waste out of landfill. It reports that DEFRA "must now take the tough decisions and practical steps needed to promote large-scale recycling" if it is to meet EU targets set in 1999. The committee reports that DEFRA was slow to react to these targets, taking no effective action until 2003. Local authorities now face enormous fines from the Government if they fail prevent more waste going into landfill.

The Conservative party has further confused this issue by backing incentives for recycling in its Quality of life report [2] but simultaneously criticizing these proposals. Michael Warhurst added:

"The Conservative party needs to sort out its line on this issue if they are to avoid charges of hypocrisy: the Quality of Life review supported incentives for recycling, but Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has been aggressively attacking such schemes for months"

Friends of the Earth urges the Government to allow any council to reward those who recycle more, provided:

• A good kerbside recycling service is available to all residents
• There is effective consultation and communication with local people
• Systems are put in place to avoid negative impacts on poorer residents

Notes

[1] Incinerators present a climate change problem, not a solution, as reported in Friends of the Earth's Dirty Truths Report (PDF†)

[2] From the Conservative Quality of Life review:

"we propose:

• That council tax bills should show separately the amount charged for the totality of waste services - collection, bring sites, recycling, and disposal. People will then know precisely how much they are paying for the service.
• That discounts are offered to encourage recycling. The dynamic effect of not paying a tax is well documented.
• Set a reasonably generous limit by weight or container for residual waste which would be collected within the standard charge and then allow discounts for households which produced less...."

[See page 253 of "Blue print for a green economy"]

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

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