2016/7 is the second year REPIC has sponsored the LARAC Scholars’ programme so I arrived at the East Midlands Conference Centre for the scholars workshop on the Tuesday before the award ceremony. There’s a buzz of anticipation around the venue at this point while everyone is setting up and there’s a nice atmosphere as people meet and greet and catch up. As always, the scholars kindly listened as I gave them a brief introduction to “The World of WEEE.” This included a brief update as to what the latest WEEE compliance news is and I announced the activities REPIC has arranged for the scholars to take part in throughout 2017. Clearly, the scholars wished I could talk to them all night about waste electricals (I could tell), however, we all knew that the pre-conference dinner followed the workshop and - I am painfully aware - I cannot compete with wine and a quiz!
The following day at the conference was really enjoyable. The line-up of speakers and subject matter was thought-provoking and it is always interesting to hear about the wider recycling issues faced by Local Authorities outside my own concerns of the collection and treatment of WEEE. Perhaps the most interesting illustration of this was the debate on Localism Vs Consistency. The debate highlighted the main challenges for Local Authorities in encouraging residents to participate in recycling initiatives and we learned how a consistent approach across regions can avoid confusion and give better results. According to WRAP, kerbside-sort is the most cost-effective and successful system for Local Authorities and, if consistency is the key, then surely all LAs should roll this type of service out.
Sorted. That’s straightforward isn’t it?
Well, no, not exactly.
To applause, one delegate asked that WRAP and the panel acknowledge that all regions are NOT the same, one solution does not fit all and different geographical areas require a different approach. At REPIC we have found the same with WEEE collections. As UK-wide geography and demography of regions differs, so too must the solution. The debate it seems, goes on.
No LARAC conference is complete without the Celebration Awards evening, which as always was fabulous! There was some brief confusion for me at the start of the awards ceremony when I picked up the booklet to see who the first nominees were and realised I was looking at the dinner menu! However, once I had the correct information in front of me, it was great to see the hard work that so many individuals at Local Authorities put in to make lasting improvements to their environment and for their residents. Congratulations to all nominees and winners and congratulations to LARAC for another great conference. See you next year!
