May started with a long car journey to Glasgow for the LARAC Scotland conference, thanks to a train strike derailing my public transport plans. The conference was packed with expert presentations on crucial topics, including Scotland's Circular Economy Bill and National Strategy, an update on EPR, the Recycling Improvement Fund (and a call to councils to get applying!), the National Litter and Fly tipping Strategy, tips on tackling contamination, digital waste tracking, the Easter Queenslie Centre of Excellence for Waste Management, collecting WEEE in the Highlands, and a passionate call to ban disposable vapes. A very special thanks to our sponsors who made the conference possible and allowed our members to attend for free. Download all the slides for the conference here.
Just as I was heading home, the Simpler Recycling government outcome was published. My excitement quickly turned to disappointment with the decision to allow fortnightly residual waste collections and a preference for more frequent!? A step back for progressive policy in England. LARAC are lobbying hard on this point, and especially with the possibility of a new incoming government.
Back in England, I got to work on the draft response to Northern Ireland’s “Rethinking our Resources” consultation, which proposes less frequent residual collections or reduced capacity—sensible ideas in my view!
Next, I joined fellow CIWM members at St Mary’s Guild Hall in Coventry for an event on EfW and ETS developments in the Midlands. The event was filled with fascinating talks about the impact of ETS on local authorities.
Not one to sit still, I headed to Manchester for the pEPR LA payment workshops. It was an intense, informative day of co-design, discussions, and questions about the future of payments and penalties for authorities. If you missed out on the workshops with Defra, you can view a meeting report and view the slides from the day here (23 May).
As if May wasn’t busy enough, DEZNEZ published an 8-week consultation on the expansion of ETS to cover EfW facilities. You can read our briefing paper here, published 24 May. To top it all off, our government only went and called a snap election!
Whoever said policy was boring?
