LAWR

COMMENT 4 Local Authority Waste & Recycling March 2014 Green shoots and money talks 1993- 2013 Make a wise investment in our new range of waste container lids. They're designed to be strong, flexible and weatherproof for a long life span. Our lids can be fitted during refurbishment or bought separately. Order yours now! Call 01257 476076 or email info@fairportcontainers.co.uk www.fairportcontainers.co.uk long-lasting Now that we are into March, are you filled with joy that summer is around the corner? Green shoots have sprung with the good news that Britain is starting to come out of austerity. However, a majority of people are not feeling the money trickling into their pockets just yet and continue to tighten their belts. I cast my mind back to the autumn of 2008 when I reported on the credit crunch and how it claimed some victims in the recycling and waste management industry. Things were really bad back then. I remember hearing panic in people's voices. It was also difficult to sell certain materials and some businesses went under. Councils are still making efficiency savings. We have a special focus on this on page six. Some companies are also still finding it difficult for banks to lend them money, especially for short-term recycling projects. However, there is still a lot of interest in the waste sector despite difficult times and a lot of investments are still being made. There is still a lot of money in equity houses who are looking to find a home for their money. In this month's issue, Mark Wilson from financial advisory specialist Catalyst Corporate Finance offers LAWR readers an exclusive analysis of merger and acquisition activity in the sector. Wilson explains how a clear growth story is attracting a wider investor base. He also says that the UK is at the centre of much of this activity and its prospects are encouraging. We shouldn't be complacent, but let's hope the worst is over for the recycling sector, and that those elusive green shoots will thrive in the sunshine – if we ever get any. Elsewhere, landfill tax is increasing to an eye-watering £80 per tonne next month. Budgets are tight but given that participation levels and capture rates are not what they could be, I think that industry still needs to engage with the public and promote the positive recycling message. Alongside that there is obviously work to do on capacity of markets and getting the appropriate material to them (something we will be exploring in LAWR's April issue). And with England's recycling rate creeping up to around 43% there is a lot that can still be done. We can all spend a lot of time talking about and highlighting certain problems. That takes energy which could be better used in finding solutions to these problems. Elsewhere, with the advent of new beginnings starting in spring, I would like to look ahead to the Energy Recovery show at Sustainability Live. From 1-3 April, a variety of visitors are expected to meet more than 250 exhibitors at this year's Sustainability Live. Turn to pages 16-18 to find out more about this exciting conference. Liz Gyekye, Editor NEWS March 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 5 FOR MORE NEWS AND ANALYSIS VISIT www.edie.net /waste Green targets missed The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has announced that it has failed to meet some of its environmental targets. Scotland's environment agency unveiled its findings in its recently published 'Sustainable SEPA' report. SEPA missed two of its six green targets. Search 'Sepa' Gov't slammed over bag charge plans The Government's plans for a five pence charge on plastic carrier bags in England have been slammed by a cross-party committee of MPs. The report states that the current bag charge proposals are "unnecessarily complicated". Search 'Bags' England's recycling rate titptoes up England's household waste recycling rate has reached a new quarterly peak at 46.2%, according to official figures. Search 'England's' Tory MPs say landfill ban could save £1bn A ban on sending plastics, wood, textiles and food to landfill could help councils save £1bn a year, Conservative MPs have said. Search 'Landfill' Online Exclusives edieWaste Helping people make business sustainable WRAP is set to overhaul its struc- ture and apply for charitable status in a bid to diversify its funding base and secure its long-term future. The organisation's plans have been wel- comed by industry experts. In an exclusive interview with edie, chief executive Liz Goodwin said that the organisation had undertaken an internal consultation exercise about the move for the past few months and now had board approval to go ahead with the decision. According to Goodwin, charitable status would allow WRAP to access a wider funding pool outside of dwindling Government grants and ultimately, give the organisation greater freedom in its remit. Goodwin said WRAP's focus will be on securing private funding. Ricardo-AEA practice director for resource efficiency and waste management Adam Read said: "I think this was an inevitable step forward in the evolution of WRAP, given the obvious decline in their central Government funding – they have had to endure some tough years with uncertainty over Government direction and funds. "To continue as a productive and effective organisation they need to secure alternative funding sources to enable them to build on some of the excellent work they have delivered over the last decade or so, if this is private finance, EC grants or charitable funds then I am sure many of us working in the sector would applaud the efforts of WRAP to secure their future and to continue to make a real positive contribution in the journey towards a more cyclical economy and a more resource-efficient UK." Industry expert Peter Jones added: "Following the not-for-profit or charitable route is a well trodden one for NGOs in the environmental space and one which clearly has upsides for WRAP. Doing so on the scale at which they operate with any attendant risks that the DEFRA comfort blanket will be stripped away could actually open up the market considerably and oblige all the NGOs to become more proactive in driving key issues rather than being reactive to what the 'Government' thinks is important." WRAP to apply for charitable status to safeguard its future MRF Code of Practice gets cautious welcome The resource management sector has cautiously welcomed Defra's materials recycling facility (MRF) Code of Practice, which was laid before Parliament last month. Under the new Code of Practice, mandatory quality requirements for all MRFs will be introduced from October 2014 in a bid to encourage greater transparency across the reprocessing supply chain. All MRFs that process more than 1,000 tonnes of material in England and Wales will be required to measure both input and output quality levels, as well as allow businesses to inspect samples of recyclates. Norfolk-based Indigo Waste Services is in the process of building a new MRF. Speaking to LAWR, owner Gary Lee said the quality of the materials going to the MRFs should be assessed before it gets to them. He said part of the onus should be on the local authority to ensure that MRF operators receive high quality materials. Lee also questioned who would police the new regulations. He added: "If you get rubbish in you get rubbish out. MRF operators are scared of upsetting councils as that's where they get their core materials from. Councils get away with far more than they should do. "It is a strange time for everybody at the moment. Everybody needs to look at their own operations, which include quality and working practices. In the past, some MRF operators thought they could just send any old rubbish to the third world and to China. But since the introduction of China's 'green fence' they cannot get away with that, and the third world and China are not willing to be the world's dumping ground." CIWM chief executive Steve Lee said he welcomed the new regulations as a good starting point in the drive for higher quality. However, he added: "In setting out what is effectively a monitoring and reporting regime, however, the regulations fall short of providing the robust quality blueprint that some in the industry had hoped for. Quality underpins the value of recycling..." John Lewis Partnership's manager for waste and water resource Mike Walters said the move could potentially be beneficial for businesses who are looking to actively close the loop on their waste streams. Walters added that while he would support better processes and technology in older MRFs in order to guarantee better quality levels, he wouldn't want enforcement of the new regulations to result in wholesale MRF closures. To read the full stories go to www.edie.net/waste

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