Thursday 26th June 2008
CRR Welcomes WRAP Report at Commons Reception
The Campaign for Real Recycling this week held a parliamentary reception to welcome the WRAP report on Kerbside Recycling: Indicative Costs and Performance and to inform MPs of the findings and their significance. The report was released by WRAP on 16th June, and shows that collections which sort at the kerbside are a less expensive option than co-mingled collections into MRFs.
Hosting the reception, Jessica Morden MP for Newport East, said: "I was
pleased to be able to host this event for the second time as the arguments
put forward by the Campaign for Real Recycling to improve the quality of
recycled materials make sense; and it is no surprise that this independent
report by WRAP reaffirms the campaign's arguments. I've seen first hand the
benefits: in my constituency we have Newport Wastesavers which already
separate recyclable materials at source, which has led to great results in
the quality of recycled products. I hope these results can be replicated
across the country."
Andy Moore, CRR campaign coordinator, said: "Some people may be surprised by this result, but value has always linked quality with price and hence with cost. This report was the result of a robust and open process by WRAP, lasting over a year and involving a large number of experts in the field. It can be considered the most definitive of its type. Claims from MRF operators that the gate fees used in the modelling were too high aren't credible. They simply can't know the gate fees of all their competitors. In any case, one has to be concerned that lower gate fees will impact still further on output material quality."
Attached photograph: Mick Keogh of Berryman Glass Recycling and Jessica Morden MP examine MRF output material, purporting to be glass of recyclable quality, at the parliamentary reception.
Information for Editors:
1. The Campaign for Real Recycling wants central government and local authorities to act urgently to improve the quality of materials collected for recycling in the UK. Real recycling is about maximising the economic, environmental and social benefits of recycling for everyone, from the local council tax payer to the global re-processing industry. Our concern is that collection systems that gather a range of different materials in one bag or bin and then compact them could permanently undermine the environmental and financial benefits of recycling. Our campaign aims to influence local authority policy and practice, and build consensus within the UK of the economic and environmental importance of highly separated collections.
2. Campaign for Real Recycling supporters:
3. The WRAP report can be found at:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads
/Kerbside_collection_report_160608.595b490d.pdf
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