Since my last blog, it’s been a busy time.
The Change Network came to the North East, organised by my Vice Chair, Vicki Burrell. It brought together LARAC members alongside DEFRA, DESNZ, the Environment Agency and WRAP. These sessions are designed to strengthen the connection between national policy development and local delivery. You can read more about the day on the LARAC website.
I chaired an in-person LARAC Executive meeting in Birmingham, followed by a workshop focused on developing the 2027–2030 business plan. This was expertly planned and delivered by Kelly Heller on our behalf, and she did an excellent job of keeping us on track. We had some constructive discussions which will help steer our members through the future challenges we are all facing.
I also spoke on the RECOUP webinar, discussing its Household Plastic Packaging Collection Survey 2025, and presented at the first Deposit Return Scheme Conference, covering local authority preparation.
The month ended with the Awards for Excellence — always a great opportunity to see what we, as an industry, are achieving. This was followed the next day by an important roundtable discussion on “sleepers in bins” — a hidden risk that can have devastating consequences.
A reminder to all members that the LARAC Scholarship Programme, provided by Ecogenesys (REPIC), is now open until 1 June (noon). To learn more, please visit the website.
To end my blog, I want to highlight a major project my team has been delivering over the past few years. We have been converting our Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant into a source-separated Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility, alongside introducing an improved Refuse Derived Fuel baling and shredding line.
This has been a joint project delivered in partnership with Biffa, and on Friday I had the opportunity to host visits and see the work first-hand. The scale of change is immense — a plant redesigned to meet evolving waste policy requirements while delivering improved financial and environmental outcomes.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to both my team and the Biffa team, who have dedicated countless hours to making this project a success.
