It’s been a while since my last blog… almost 2 months, and a lot has happened in that time!
It was great to see so many of you at either, or both, RWM and the LARAC UK Conference in October. As part of this, it was a real honour to be a judge for the awards that took place on the evening of the first day of the conference, and to see all those nominated recognised for the incredible, often underappreciated work that takes place across the sector. A quick reminder to all members that it’s never too early to start planning submissions for next year!
We had a fairly short period of respite from policy and regulation, at least what we saw in the public domain. After a frantic amount of work earlier prior to the summer recess, we have emerged from the other side to see positive discussions continue.
The regulators and enforcement bodies have continued to communicate on key policies, with October seeing webinar events from DEFRA on the Change Networks, the EA on the Emissions Trading Scheme for waste, and PackUK on year 3 local authority payments for packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR). Questions, of course, remain, but we will look to continue leading the engagement with these bodies as the policies continue to develop and roll out.
Two consultations have opened in the last few weeks, with DEFRA consulting on the proposed WEEE Compliance Fee Methodology and administrator for 2026, and the Scottish Government consulting on a new Household Recycling Code of Practice. LARAC will be responding to both and will look to organise a meeting with Scottish members before the end of the year to discuss and gather feedback on the latter, given the significant scale of the proposals.
The two biggest talking points over the last month have been the Budget and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
Firstly, the Budget 2026, which took place on 28 October. I say it is a big talking point, but perhaps more noticeable is the absence of environmental considerations in the overall discussion, seemingly parked in favour of big-ticket items such as defence spending and AI data centres. Disappointing, though perhaps predictable.
Secondly, the announcement the following day that LGR is back on the agenda and seemingly moving ahead. Whilst the usual volume of question marks around it remain it has been confirmed that five areas will be proceeding, whilst the remaining fifteen have had their summer decisions rescinded and will be subject to a fresh decision next year.
Following the UK Conference and RWM, in-person events enter their final push for the year. I had the opportunity to attend an excellent event on critical raw materials (hosted by Ecogenesys and UCL), whilst in November I will be at the Collection and EPR conferences events hosted by letsrecycle. I will also see some of you at the Yorkshire & Humber regional meeting at the end of the month.
Last but not least, we are hosting our final member webinar of the year on 11 November on rural collections and opportunities across the UK, with experiences shared from South Kesteven and Highland councils. Free to join for members, so hope to see plenty of you dialled in!
