With Autumn upon us, we in the waste industry begin the approach to one of the busiest times of the year….
I am of course referring to Christmas! But lets not think about that too much just yet. I am happily enjoying the beautiful Autumn colours, which also brings with it significant leaf fall, and I am appreciating the fact that all our hard working street cleansing crews are out there ensuring that the streets are kept clear of leaves and debris.
And speaking of Autumn colours, I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the LGA conference last month in Yorkshire, which is so beautiful this time of year. My session related to imagining what a zero waste world may look like in 2040, with lots more reuse, repair and renting of items and materials. If I am still working in 15 years time, then we can see how close to reality this scenario may be!
In a couple of weeks time I am in Westminster attending two events, the first is a panel discussion in Parliament, considering the role of government policy in supporting businesses to decarbonise the food value chain, and ensure food security in the UK and the second is an event addressing how to drive a real circular economy for aluminium in 2025.
Both should be very informative and interesting discussions, focussing on key materials - the management of which are extremely important in our drive towards a more sustainable future.
Policy wise, its been a bit of a quiet period of late as we await government responses on both the WEEE consultation and the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) consultation, the outcomes of which will have a huge impact on our industry, and we therefore urge the government to provide these as soon as possible.
In addition, we also continue to wait for confirmation on the policy exemptions under Simpler Recycling for England, which relate to both the allowance of comingling of dry materials and organics and also the exemption of micro businesses from the mandated delivery of services to non household premises from March 2025.
In addition, DEFRA has assured us that Local Authorities will be provided with information on the payments due to them under the first year of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging. This is due by the end of November.
In a recent DEFRA forum, the government stated that any Local Authority who determines that the payment is not what they expected can lodge an appeal, so we are all waiting with baited breath on how this pans out….
In the meantime, LARAC is busy putting together its next webinar for members, which will focus on the top performing Local Authorities within each of the four nations. Join us to hear from them, where they will share advice and good practice on their activities and services. For more information please click HERE
