Well here we are towards the end of April already, the time is certainly going fast this year…
…unfortunately however, there is still no sign of the much awaited consistency response from government and the consultation on statutory guidance.
We heard on the grapevine at the beginning of April that the publication of the response and the consultation would be delayed until after the elections on 4th May, however, there has been no official announcement from DEFRA about this. The information contained in these documents is so important for Local Authorities in order for them to plan and proceed, and the lack of communication from DEFRA is very frustrating.
This is no doubt one of the topics that the LARAC Exec will be discussing next week when we head over to Birmingham to meet up and discuss policy issues and the development of the LARAC Business Plan. It will be good to see each other face to face, as we share information and develop our policy approaches.
In addition to the collection and packaging reforms, we will also be discussing the issue of POPs. Currently, there is a live consultation out on POPs which due to its very technical nature, LARAC are unable to respond to, however, LARAC have written to DEFRA to request further information on what the POPs legislation may mean for Local Authorities, especially as the consultation outlines a number of other products that have been found to contain POPs, such as; non-stick kitchenware, food processing equipment, industrial waste, paper and paints, stain-resistant carpets, and carpet cleaning fluids. We will be closely monitoring the development of this and feeding back to LARAC members as appropriate.
At the beginning of May, I am looking forward to travelling up to Glasgow to meet up with my colleagues in Scotland for the LARAC Conference, where there will be presentations covering the latest on extended producer responsibility and the deposit return scheme. Visitors will also hear a range of case studies ranging from app technology, to contamination and data. Places are FREE for LARAC members, are there is still time to register, click here
We will also be keeping a close eye of the development of the DRS within Scotland, which has now been delayed further, until March 2024. A number of media reports have suggested that the scheme should be scrapped altogether so I am sure there will be some interesting conversations with colleagues around this when we meet in a couple of weeks time. The details may of course help to clarify some of the key questions surrounding the DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so lets wait and see…
