Will the Waste Review make sense of waste?

Julian Kirby

13 June 2011

So tomorrow all is revealed - after a yearlong Waste Review we'll hear Defra Secretary Caroline Spelman telling us what she's got planned for all things rubbish in England.

But will it help? One thing's for sure, it couldn't come soon enough. Rubbish is everywhere. You can't get away from it. And it's confusing everyone.

Seriously. Ever since the Telegraph ran a story on bank holiday saying the Government had found £100 million to bring back weekly rubbish collections we've had arguments back and forth about whether the cash exists at all, whether it's for weekly food waste collections, or for all 'black bag' waste. Even ministers disagree with each other over what the Government's got up its sleeve.

Meanwhile the argument continues to rage as to how much we should expect to derive energy from waste, how to ensure businesses - particularly small businesses - have decent and affordable waste and recycling services, what councils should collect and whether they should be allowed to fine people for misdemeanours such as overfilling their bins.

You might expect to find some light relief watching The Apprentice but even that's got the rookies up to their necks in rubbish, and they're looking more befuddled than ever.

So will The Waste Review deliver? Will it give us the clear statement of ambition, and the policy to turn that ambition into reality, that so many are calling for?

Sadly the early indications are that it will not. We look forward to being proved wrong, and will certainly praise the good stuff if and when we see it - a likely contender being  if that cash goes to weekly food waste collections instead of the weekly rubbish collections Pickles is so obsessed with.

But what's needed is an overarching and ambitious goal that will show everyone where we're going and tie together and drive all the different areas of waste policy-making to ensure we get there. At Friends of the Earth we've been calling for a goal to halve household residual 'black bag' waste by 2020, with similar ambition for business, because that would provide that certainty and drive that policy making.

And what's been great has been the huge and diverse support we've had for that - from the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, Europe's largest; from the Federation of Small Businesses; from Unilever UK, from Coca Cola Enterprises, Sainsbury's, B&Q, WWF UK, and a host of other individuals and organisations including ex-Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth.

And why do they all support the call for a goal? Well, their reasons are many and varied, but I think it's fair to say that what ties them together is that they all recognise we need something in place to ensure it's curtains for the current piecemeal approach to dealing with waste. It's time to end the confusion, to be clear and serious about slashing waste across all sectors of the economy.

So come on Spelman, here's your moment of glory - show us you've got a plan to make it happen.