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Mal's Blog: My comments on the new Kerbside Collections Study
The Welsh Assembly Government and WRAP Cymru have released the The Kerbside Dry Recyclables Collections Study – Wales which is a report that examines the options for local authorities in Wales in sorting of dry recyclable materials based on data collection.
I fully support Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson’s robust line of standing behind the ‘scientific evidence’ of Wales’s new Waste Strategy ‘Towards Zero Waste’ which has been completely vindicated yet again by this latest report.
What the report says, very simply, is that all the evidence that the government have acquired indicates that if you want quality materials that are fit for re-using or recycling you need to get the householder or officeworker to separate the materials for you and to put them out for collection. Then, again very simply, provide a collection system that maintains that separation. Sorting at the point of waste creation is very important to achieving the right quality of material and the high targets that are now statutory in Wales.
As CEO of Cylch Wales Community Recycling Network and Chair of The Campaign for Real Recycling, which focuses on this issue, I am delighted to see that these figures paint more or less the same picture of the Welsh recycling scene as the independent RPS report did in 2007. At the time some accused RPS of being misleading on the grounds that the data on which it was based was far too inaccurate.
What needs to be understood is that if you persuade people that it is impossible to recycle more than 50% and the new legislation prohibits landfill, then the next and seemingly ‘sensible’ option is incineration or ‘Energy from waste’ as it is often referred to. There are massive profits to be made by enormous companies offering such quick-fix solutions to residual waste targets. What is not considered is that the incinerator itself creates a situation where Local Authorities end up having to find more waste to feed it and meet contractual targets. This is counter productive when you are trying to reduce waste to as close to zero as possible.
However if you can reach 70, 80 or even 90 percent re-use, recycling and composting, as recent reports from Zero Waste Presteigne have shown, then there is very little left to burn. This means no profits for those delivering the incinerators, but greater income from the sale of clean materials for re-processing. What I am talking about here is real community benefit as opposed to shareholder benefit. This battle has been raging as long as I can recall – certainly since 1990 when the waste industry was saying 25% was unachievable.
This issue of data and evidence has, for too long, been used to mask massive inefficiencies in the waste management sector in Wales. Back in 2005/6 Newport was by far the least costly operation because it was the most effective. It’s kerbside sort methodology resulted in high tonnages of recycling being collected, whilst costing a fraction of services being delivered elsewhere – one fifth that of the Welsh average.
These new figures are closer together, but the range of the six authorities studied is still £14 per household to £53 per household. These figures are simply not defensible four years later at a time when we are now six or seven years into this massive investment in recycling infrastructure.
These figures are simply not defensible four years later at a time when we are now six or seven years into this massive investment in recycling infrastructure.
These new figures are closer together, but the range of the six authorities studied is still £14 per household to £53 per household. These figures are simply not defensible four years later at a time when we are now six or seven years into this massive investment in recycling infrastructure.
These figures are simply not defensible four years later at a time when we are now six or seven years into this massive investment in recycling infrastructure.
Fortunately, Local Authorities throughout Wales are improving their performance and areas like Anglesey and Denbigshire are now achieving near 60% rates. Kerbside sort operations are close to 70% in Presteigne and Norton and it is inevitable that those that want to achieve higher will do so as Bridgend Council have shown - achieving a jump from 33% to 51% in just three months with the right investment. A detailed analysis of Presteigne’s residual waste suggests that over 90% recycling is actually possible without redesigning products.
This report is strong on detail and appears to take everything into account. It will take a while to analyse that detail but one thing it certainly asks is a very serious question about costs. Why are some still very high?
At a time of massive cuts in public spending I would have thought that this report is a GIMME for a real move on saving £20 million a year.
Mal