A top Defra official has reinforced the government’s commitment to cover the costs of national changes to household waste collections which are likely to be set out in an Environment Bill later this year.
Defra’s Chris Preston told the LARAC Conference that ‘new burdens’ would be funded by central government
Chris Preston, deputy director of resources and waste at Defra, reaffirmed the department’s promise not to leave the costs of ‘new burdens’ – some of the measures proposed in the Resources and Waste Strategy – with councils, during his speech at the LARAC Conference in Birmingham.
He told the local authority recycling officers conference: “There will be no increase in council tax in order to deliver the changes that we make to both consistent collections and food waste collections.”
Many working within local authorities are concerned that the measures the government proposed in December – such as compulsory food waste services, nationally consistent collections and free garden waste services – will incur large costs for councils, especially in conjunction with other national measures like a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which could remove high value recyclate from kerbside collections.
Pressed on funding in a subsequent question and answer session, Mr Preston emphasised that new burdens would be funded.
Quality
He also pledged to help local authorities deal with problems with the low quality of the materials they are collecting.
“There will be no increase in council tax in order to deliver the changes that we make to both consistent collections and food waste collections.”
“We all recognise that one of the issues is that the quality of what gets collected at the kerbside means there is not always a market for the materials,” Mr Preston explained.
“I want to increase quantity but also quality.”
The government’s proposal of a plastic packaging tax was offered as one solution – it has been suggested that the tax will be applied to all plastic packaging which contains less than 30% recycled content, creating more demand for recycled plastic.
He said: “The Treasury realise they can use the tax system to create a new market for materials.”
With consistent collections a much-discussed topic at the LARAC Conference, Mr Preston emphasised that end results were more important than the specific methods used.
Referencing the measures to be introduced in 2023, he said: “There will be separate municipal food waste collections, EPR for packaging and consistency – not how but what is collected at the kerbside to help the consumer.”
Waste crime
Mr Preston also highlighted waste crime as a key area of action for Defra.
Mr Preston answered audience question alongside Baroness Bakewell (l) from the Liberal Democrats and Nespresso’s Julie Gallacher (r)
He praised local authorities who had worked collaboratively with the police and other departments to tackle flytipping in their areas and said the department was working to make sure that the offenders caught through this work were punished appropriately.
“Sentences don’t reflect the harm that has been caused to a local community,” Mr Preston said.
Appearing to suggest that Defra would like tougher penalties for waste criminals, he said: “We want to work with the judicial office to understand the range of options that magistrates have for sentencing but also to ensure magistrates understand the broad range of effects it has on the community.”
Defra plans to reform the brokers and dealers scheme to ensure people entering the waste business are “legitimate”.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
