LARAC has broadly welcomed the call for a greater lead on waste policy in England by DEFRA coupled with the requisite funding support to achieve the 50% national recycling target. LARAC Believe the recommendations within the report on Waste Management in England by the House of Commons Environment Food and Rural affairs Committee are key to ensuring the recycling rate in England does not fall further behind Wales and Scotland. LARAC was however, critical of comments in the report about the number of collection systems operating in the UK and confusion this is said to cause. LARAC points to the strong work on local communications that local authorities now undertake and the vast adoption of the Recycle Now communications by local authorities across the UK
Andrew Bird, Chair LARAC, said "We applaud the fact the report recognises the threefold increase in rates since 2000, due to the hard work of local authorities. The current slowdown in recycling rates across England is a direct result of the policy vacuum and the drastic funding cuts councils have had to contend with, which those outside of local authorities should not underestimate. It will not matter if the policy void is filled, without accompanying funding councils will still be forced to weigh up the need for expanded waste services against education, social services and health and wellbeing needs."
LARAC also highlighted the fact that there are only three basic collection systems in operation across the UK and talk of 400 is outdated and unhelpful to the debate. The differences in collection systems also stems from the fact the end markets are still not fully developed in the UK, especially for plastics. As markets develop, LARAC points out, so there will be a natural harmonisation of the range of materials collected.
To read the full EFRA report click here
For further information please contact Andrew Bird, Chair LARAC, on 01782 742 510. Twitter: @LARACspeaks
