Monday 16th June 2008

LARAC and CRR Welcome WRAP Costings Report

LARAC (the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee) and the Campaign for Real Recycling today welcomed the release by WRAP of it’s ‘Indicative Costs and Performance of Kerbside Collection Systems’ research. The report represents the most in-depth study to date of the potential performance and costs of recycling collection and sorting systems identifying areas of good practice in a wide variety of local authority types.

For the Campaign for Real Recycling, Andy Doran of Novelis Recycling said "The whole concept behind the Campaign is to have the full life cycle facts of recycling out in the open.  This research, which the Campaign has lobbied hard for, is a welcome piece of the jigsaw that will allow those people taking decisions to be better informed about the full costs and benefits from collection through to reprocessing.  As such it is very much welcomed.  There are some key findings within the research that suggest that there are systemic differences in costs and that in current market conditions kerbside sort schemes show lower costs – net of income from material sales - than co-mingled schemes".

Commenting on the report Lee Marshall, LARAC Chair, said “whilst not yet providing the full picture this research gives a much better base of information on which local authorities can make decisions, meaning they are now better informed than they have been previously. However the report does throw up a particular area of concern with regard to the value of material sales flowing back to the local authorities and I would urge our members to look closely at their current arrangements with MRF operators. Local circumstances will still be a major factor in collection scheme decisions and so this should not be taken as showing that one system is ‘better’ than another and there is still no size fits all for UK local authorities.”

The Campaign for Real Recycling and LARAC have been working together to see how the quality debate can be taken forward in a constructive manner that benefits both reprocessors and local authorities equally whilst ensuring that suitable local collection arrangements are put in place efficiently.