LAWR

COMMENT 4 Local Authority Waste & Recycling March 2015 Simply cut: Money's too tight to mention If one word summed up the year 2015 so far, it would be 'unclear'. It is unclear whether Greece will leave the Eurozone; it is unclear who will be given the keys to Number 10 this May, it is difficult to predict when oil prices will start to rise again, and it is unclear what the new circu- lar economy package will look like. Lack of clarity does not help the sector during this chal- lenging time. In fact, it is a difficult time to be in the public sector. The world is changing and there will be less money. The public sector will have to change radically because of having less money. A reduction in local authority funding since the recession has forced councils across the UK to make budget savings, while the likes of Defra, the Environment Agency and WRAP have also faced budget cuts. Just take a look at the findings from a joint CIWM/Ricardo- AEA report about the impact of budget cuts and austerity measures on local authority waste services on pages 6-7. The report is entitled 'Waste on the frontline – challenges and innovations'. It makes for interesting reading. It shows that austerity measures are having a huge impact on staff. More than half of survey respondents report some form of departmental restructuring and 68% say that vacant posts are not being filled. A total of 61% are also being subject to a pay freeze. This is leading to low staff morale, increased shortages as people leave and increased workloads. As well as budget cuts, volatile oil prices are also hav- ing an impact on the resource management sector. Has it quelled the demand for recycled plastics? LAWR understands that supermarket packaging buyers still have an appetite for recycled materials. However, in this issue, LAWR analyses whether the industry is a winner or loser in this new world of cheap oil (see pages 12-13). Liz Gyekye, Editor Follow me on Twitter: @LAWR_editor WE ARE HELPING LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO IMPLEMENT A ZERO WASTE STRATEGY FOR FUEL USAGE Kevin Mansell, Transport Manager, Lewes District Council MERRIDALE Fuel Management One Solution > Lewes District Council has implemented a web-based fuel management service to help improve the efficiency of its fleet of refuse wagons and utility vehicles. The new Merridale system, now installed at the Newhaven transport depot, is backed up by an automatic stock control and fuel usage reporting service, provided by MIS Fuel Monitoring of Wolverhampton. We have replaced manual records with Merridale FuelWorks, an electronic monitoring system that records fuel usage automatically and provides us current stock status and usage reports, as and whenever they are required. It's a computer system but with none of the hassle. " " 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 Fuel Management Fuel Management One Solution One Solution Fuel Management One Solution Fuel Management Fuel Management One Solution Fuel Management > FUEL PUMPS FUEL PUMPS | FUEL TANKS | TANK GAUGES Fuel Management One Solution

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