LAWR

COMMENT 4 Local Authority Waste & Recycling May 2015 Whoever enters Downing Street, let's hope they have a waste plan By the time you read this, the general election will be around a fortnight away. Your guess is as good as mine regarding the government that will emerge come May 8, or most likely later. But it's a fair bet that most in the waste sector (and arguably more generally) are hoping UKIP's popularity continues to wane. As FCC Environment's Kristian Dales suggests on page 18, the party's local manifesto pledge to reduce (and possibly abolish) landfill tax "would make recycling a less commercially viable option and associated targets somewhat irrelevant". Some will take heart from news that Labour and the Lib Dems appear receptive to an Office for Resource Management in Whitehall; a unit that would provide waste and resource policy with a home and, in due course, a vision (see story below). With the EU's 2020 household recycling targets likely to fall within the next parliament, a fresh look at waste policy would be timely – especially in England. Scotland, Wales and latterly Northern Ireland have clear policies; England does not. This brings to mind a presentation I saw in January by Larac chair Andrew Bird in which he admitted to a "real fear" that EU targets to recycle 50% of UK household waste by 2020 won't be met. Bird compared the waste policies across the UK. "Unless there is more investment and more vision, there is no incentive for local authorities in England to move forward," he said. And yet they do. Recycling rates are stalling, yes, but they are not yet going backwards and this is testament to the "forward thinking", as Bird put it, amongst his members. Indeed, our feature on pages 12-14 (kindly penned by Liz Gyekye) follows the councils who have taken a leap of faith by introducing three-weekly residual waste collections – and some who are soon to trial four-weekly. If these new services are to have any chance of succeeding they need to be backed by strong campaigns. But in the face of more swingeing budget cuts, communication campaigns are often one of the first things to suffer. What's more, should you go down the softly, softly incentives route (page 8), or get tough with residents? Our feature on page 11 assesses the evidence but, much like the election, choosing a clear winner is far from easy. David Burrows, freelance journalist and acting editor Email me at LAWR@fav-house.com NEWS Time for new waste unit Labour and the Liberal Democrats would be likely to support the establishment of a dedicated body to oversee the UK's waste policy. An Office for Resource Management (ORM) has been on industry's radar for almost 12 months now, but the concept is gathering momentum as the general election nears. Waste and recycling might not have been discussed during recent TV debates between party leaders, but shadow minister for the environment, food and rural affairs Barry Gardiner confirmed that a Labour Government "will put resource security at the heart of its total economic vision". The Liberal Democrats have proposed a Zero Waste Bill. Duncan Brack, vice chair of the party's federal policy committee, said he had "every confidence" that a motion to create an ORM will be reflected in its 2015 manifesto. Both were speaking at the launch of a new paper, published by the Material Security Working Group. The report outlined how the unit would set policy direction on resource security and efficiency and offer greater policy coherence. The resource efficiency portfolio is currently spread across Whitehall. "While it may not be a novel concept, it is one whose time has come," the group noted. Councils are now banned from charging residents for using household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). The Local Authorities (Prohibition of Charging Residents to deposit Household Waste) Order 2015 was passed on 26 March, coming into force 28 days later. Larac has been fiercely apposed to the changes, suggesting the government "cherry-picked" from the consultation responses. According to the DCLG, half the respondents welcomed the proposal to prevent charges at HWRCs. The government said it is not persuaded by the opposing arguments. HWRC changes

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