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COMMENT 4 Local Authority Waste & Recycling April 2014 What goes around comes around WE ARE HELPING A DISTRICT COUNCIL TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON ITS OPERATING COSTS Jayne Brown, Depot Administrator, North Kesteven Council. MERRIDALE Fuel Management One Solution > As with all public bodies, operating costs are under close scrutiny. Diesel is an expensive commodity and procedures are required to monitor the usage at the depot. In addition to fuel economy, the data can be used to measure CO2 emissions and vehicle servicing requirements. We are measuring fuel usage far more precisely and that has given us more insight and therefore potential for making savings in the future. The Merridale system is easy to use; information is collected automatically and the emphasis has shifted to the education of our drivers " " FUEL MONITORING SYSTEMS | FUEL PUMPS | FUEL TANKS | TANK GAUGES | MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE call 01902 350700 email sales@merridale.co.uk visit www.merridale.co.uk For other fuel management success stories, visit: www.fuelmanagement.co.uk It is interesting to note that talk of the circular economy is picking up. Following our Resource Revolution campaign and the Resource conference that took place in London last month, more attention is being given to the circular economy and the role it plays in reducing carbon emissions. It was interesting to hear all the exciting things the industry has been up to in working towards a circular economy. You had names such as SITA UK, IKEA and M&S speaking about the issue during the panel debates at the event. I think a circular economy happens when all discarded resources are collected, processed and returned back to the manufacturing process, so that the cycle can start again. Of course, in some ways the idea of the circular economy is nothing new. The cradle-to-cradle philosophy of production and manufacturing pioneered by Michael Braungart (who I've met and is really friendly by the way) and William McDonough has been around for more than a decade. However, the circular economy is still a buzzword for many and there is still a lot of theory that has not turned into practice. Sweeping change appears to be happening slowly. In addition to this, I noticed that many speakers were almost speaking amongst themselves about the issue at the conference. If you were somebody who didn't know much about the topic you would be lost. It almost becomes slightly 'intellectual' and 'highbrow'. People nod their heads in the audience and pretend to know what the speakers are talking about but when I ask people I am sitting next to if they understand the term they say 'no'. People may start to 'switch off' if the term is not made accessible to them or they are made to feel excluded from it. To add to this, the host of the panel debates also mentioned a lot of acronyms during his speech and assumed that everybody knew what he was talking about. He then said, in an 'I-know- better-than-you way', that people should look up his website to find what the acronyms meant if they did not know about them. Hmm! Nevertheless, Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay made an interesting point as a speaker. He urged the audience to not "forget resource efficiency within the linear economy as well", whilst the transition to the circular economy takes place. Materials recovery facilities (MRFs) can help to assuage this transition to the circular economy. To ability to track and trace quality materials will be key to closing the loop. To find out more about latest developments in the MRF world, take a look at LAWR's MRF special on page 19. Enjoy! Liz Gyekye, Editor Follow me on Twitter: @LAWR_editor NEWS April 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 5 FOR MORE NEWS AND ANALYSIS VISIT www.edie.net /waste Gov't launches call for evidence Defra has launched a call for evidence on refuse derived fuel (RDF) as it is concerned that minimally treated material is being exported. Search 'Defra' £8m investment in recycling Norse Commercial Services has announced that it will be investing £8m in redeveloping its materials recycling facility in Costessey, Norwich. It hopes to expand the range of materials that can be recycled. Search 'Norse' SITA UK signs £10m contract with Walsall SITA UK (see pic below) has signed a £10 million contract with Walsall Council to take over the operation of two household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) and a waste transfer station from this month. Search 'SITA UK' MEPs vote to reduce plastic bag use Draft rules from the European Parliament's Environment Committee may see European Union states having to reduce consumption of plastic bags by 80 % by 2019. Search 'plastic bag' Online Exclusives edieWaste Helping people make business sustainable A Minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills should take a leading role in overseeing waste policies and be a "waste champion", according to a new report by the House Of Lords Science and Technology Committee. In the report entitled 'Waste or resource? Stimulating a bioeconomy', peers suggested that the Government should create a waste champion to take on the job of developing a "brass from muck" bioeconomy - one that could create a multi-billion pound economy as well as create a number of green jobs. It also calls on the Government to treat waste as a resource and "grasp the nettle and change the way we view waste". The Lords Committee slammed the Government over its waste policy. It said: "There is a lack of a clear lead within Government, with responsibilities spread across several Government departments, and inadequate coordination and cohesion. "We therefore recommend that a Minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is given responsibility for the development of a waste-based, high value bioeconomy. The Minister should be a champion for waste as a resource and should coordinate activities across Government. "He or she should ensure that a long-term plan, with at least a 15 year horizon, is produced in order to support the development of a high value waste-based bioeconomy." It also heard evidence that access to waste resources must be improved. It argued that waste should be collected and treated in a way "that maximises its value as a resource". The Lords Committee also urged the Government "to look again at its incentives for certain sectors in this field and not others, and work to make sure the market is not distorted". It advocated that the Government needs to reduce the amounts of waste that are exported. It's estimated that the UK could produce 150,000 tonnes of bioethanol with the waste it exported in 2012. Lords call on Government to create 'waste champion' Working Group to publish TEEP 'routemap' A working group comprising members of local authority waste networks, coordinated through the Waste Network Chairs, which includes the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) and the Association of Directors of Environment Planning and Transportation (ADEPT), the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), are to publish a recycling collection 'routemap' for local authorities this month. The 'Routemap to Understanding the requirements of the Waste Regulations 2011 (amended 2012)' is being developed in association with environmental consultancy Eunomia Research and Consulting to help local authorities understand what recycling services they are legally obligated to provide under waste laws. Under the amended EU Waste Framework Directive, local authorities and businesses must be offered the opportunity to have recyclable metal, paper, plastic and glass collected separately from January 2015. The Working Group has identified a need for information to be available to local authorities on regulations relevant to separate collection, the key questions and issues authorities should consider when assessing whether or not their service meets these requirements and where it is necessary in demonstrating TEEP (Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable). The routemap is currently being developed and the Working Group has appointed Eunomia Consulting to assist with its preparation. The work is being funded by the LWARB and the waste networks. It is intended that it will be available by early April. A representative for the Work Group said: "The routemap is about giving local authorities the tools to make their own decision and help signpost them through the Regulations. It is being developed as a resource for local authorities and is not guidance. Ultimately each local authority will need to determine its own compliance with the Regulations. The Working Group has announced this ... as we are aware that local authorities are considering the implications of the Regulations on their services and we want to make them aware that the routemap will be available to them [this month]." Elsewhere, the waste sector trade body the Environmental Services Association (ESA) has issued an information note to its members warning that the Waste Framework Directive also applies to commercial waste collections and that customers will need to be offered the opportunity to have their recyclable material collected separately – except where it is not TEEP. To read the full stories go to www.edie.net/waste

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