The election campaign is now over. Britain has a new Government, albeit slightly sooner than most of us – including potentially the new Government themselves – were expecting.
This is demonstrated by the fact that access talks with the Civil Service only began in February 2024, and the Labour manifesto was fairly light on detail, particularly on waste and recycling. The only reference was that,
“Labour is committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy.”
However, the lack of detail in Labour’s manifesto indicates that this is not an area that they are planning to be particularly ambitious or radical. That is not necessarily a bad thing as we are already someway down the line with the policy measures outlined back in 2018 in the Resources and Waste Strategy, albeit implementation is somewhat delayed.
We recognise that the new Government will have a significant in-tray, and a variety of competing priorities. Whilst we realise that waste and recycling may not be forefront of Minister’s minds, it’s important that it’s not forgotten, as small interventions can allow our sector to thrive.
Our sector, like many others, is made up of a variety of different businesses, and what almost all businesses seek is certainty and stability, providing a stable bedrock for investment.
There has been steady policy progress in our sector, for example the Resources and Waste Strategy packaging reforms. We call on the next government to follow through with these, in order to foster suitable conditions for investment, create thousands of new green jobs, help to deliver much needed infrastructure, and ultimately lead to a less wasteful, lower carbon and more circular economy, as outlined in their manifesto.
The current Secretary of State in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed MP, said at the last Labour Party conference – whilst in opposition – that if [the Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS)] "is an easy win, let’s have it”.
As part of our commitment to national and sector-specific net-zero carbon objectives, we advocate for the new Government to actively advance energy recovery within the Emissions Trading Scheme. Not doing so could have a profound impact on our ability to achieve sectoral decarbonisation and impede our capability to achieve national net-zero targets by 2050.
Furthermore, we believe the new Government should take a look at the structure of the Environment Agency, which is held back by financial and operational constraints. Further scrutiny on this large public body would better protect our industry, but also our communities and natural environment that are blighted by waste crime.
So much of the policy work in our sector is done by officials and stakeholders, rather than politicians themselves, and so it is vital that this work can be built upon. The new Government must allow the progress to continue and provide a stable environment for further investment so the sector can play a key role in moving towards a more circular economy.
