In last month’s blog I noted how there had been a sudden flurry of activity relating to the waste reforms, and before the proverbial ink had dried on that piece, even bigger news was announced!
I am of course referring to the General Election which has been announced for July 4th 2024. With much talk around the issues of the economy, the NHS and schools, has the topics of sustainability and waste taken a back seat?
It could be argued that the aforementioned issues should take precedence, however, without a greater focus on our use of resources, are we placing all of those ‘bigger’ issues at further risk? We are all aware of the impacts of climate change which don’t discriminate against any race, gender, rurality or affluence and are a serious threat to our future.
A quick look through the manifestos of the key political parties does not fill me with much enthusiasm with regards to this topic, least of all the Labour Party who assigns barely a sentence to how it will address waste management by stating that they are “committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy”. There is however, no further details on exactly how that may be achieved.
The Conservatives – who have already been very slow in delivering any of the key policies under the Collection and Packaging reforms, have stated that they will “continue to develop a UK wide Deposit Return Scheme”, which LARAC members have continually agreed is the least relevant part of the reforms, instead, we have urged the Government to focus its efforts on implementing EPR and Simpler Recycling, and then assessing the need for a DRS after this point.
The Conservatives have also referred to preventing the construction of new waste incinerators as “increased recycling rates will reduce the need for incineration capacity in the longer term”. Forgive my cynicism over this statement, however, for this to happen, the pace of change and the funding available to Local Authorities will need to significantly increase.
The Liberal Democrats also plan to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy, and interestingly again refer to the Deposit Return Scheme, but exclude any references to the other waste reforms.
And last but not least The Green Party unsurprisingly provide more detail over how they plan to move towards a circular economy, including requiring “manufacturers to offer ten-year warranties on white goods, to encourage repair and reuse” and “introducing a comprehensive ‘right to repair’, so manufacturers keep goods operational years after purchase and to eliminate built-in obsolescence”.
At the time of writing the Scottish National Party had not published its manifesto.
So, interesting times indeed, and after July 4th we will know who we will be working with over the next five years, but let’s hope whoever it is, we can start to finally make a real transition to address waste management and start to implement some robust policies.
