Several of the UK’s representative bodies for the waste and resource management sector have written a joint letter to the new Resource Minister, Dan Rogerson, saying that they would like to support Defra in improving and delivering waste policy.
Writing in response to Rogerson’s letter of 6 November, ‘which made clear that Defra will be reducing its activity in some areas of waste and resource management from 2014/15’, the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), Environmental Services Association (ESA), Renewable Energy Association (REA), and the Resource Association (RA) have offered a helping hand to the government department to improve resource management in England.
The letter reads: ‘As you know, waste is a valuable source of materials, energy and nutrients. The industry has grown strongly over recent years despite the adverse economic climate and has the potential to drive green growth and create jobs in the future. As organisations representing responsible operators and professionals in the sector we are concerned thatprogress in improving resource management in England had already stalled in a number of areas even before your recent announcement.
‘However, rather than simply criticise the government, and recognising the resource constraints in your Department, we would like to offer to work closely with you and your officials at Defra to help turn this situation around.’
Key areas of interest
Specifically, areas that the five bodies would like ‘addressed’ are:
Waste crime
Highlighted as a ‘priority issue’ for the five organisations, the bodies say they‘recently’ met with Defra officials to discuss ‘further ways of tackling waste crime’ and have ‘committed to providing feedback and ideas on how we can work together’.
Indeed, earlier this year, the group wrote to previous Resource Minister, Lord de Mauley, to express their ‘strong view’ that despite budget cuts, ‘waste crime [should] remain a priority for Defra’.
Recycling
Voicing concerns that the rate of increase in household waste recycling and composting in England ‘has levelled off and it is not certain that the EU target of 50 per cent by 2020 will be reached’, the bodies say they would ‘like to work with [Defra] to see what can and should be done to address this’.
Collection methods
In Lord de Mauley’s last letter to the industry before leaving his post as Resource Minister, he claimed that the government ‘fully supports’ the separate collection of waste paper, plastic, glass and metal, as well as indicating that separate collections of recyclables should be the default position for councils to adopt.This was despite government arguing in a lengthy judicial review that separate collections are only necessary where they both ‘facilitate or improve recovery’ and are ‘technically, environmentally and economically practicable’.
After publication of the letter, many local authorities have asked for formal guidance from Defra on ‘how to interpret and apply the separate collection requirements of the Waste Framework Directive in light of the Judicial Review outcome’. The five organisations say they ‘stand ready’ to help Defra officials develop this.
Hazardous waste
As Defra’s 2010 strategy on hazardous waste has not yet been implemented, the ‘ESA and others’ would like to work ‘more closely’ with Defra and the
Environment Agency to raise standards of hazardous waste management on the ground.
Commercial and industrial waste
Recent work sponsored by CIWM shows that there is an infrastructure gap for commercial and industrial (C&I) waste. The group says it would like to discuss ‘how to create the conditions in which this gap could be bridged by fostering private sector investment’.
Waste prevention
Lastly, as England’s Waste Prevention Programme (required to be published next month as part of the European Commission’s revised Waste Framework Directive) is yet to be released, the organisations say they would ‘like to work’ with Defra in ensuring the ‘plan makes a real difference’.
The bodies added that ‘close and consultative working achieves positive results’, and that applying it to the areas identified would ensure the ‘scarce resources available to Defra can make the most impact’.
Read the joint letter to Resource Minister Dan Rogerson.
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