Monday 30th April 2007
Variable charging may backfire with commingled collections, warns Campaign for Real Recycling
Variable charging may result in worse value for money in areas where commingled collection systems are in place, warns the Campaign for Real Recycling (CRR). Defra's Waste Strategy 2007 for England, to be announced this month, is widely predicted to include some enabling provision for local authorities to levy household incentives, charging for waste collections by amount left out.
The CRR supports the principle of variable charging, believing that financial incentives to encourage recycling will help increase capture rates, but only in areas where households carry out some level of sorting. Problems could develop in areas with a commingled collection, where households might attempt to reduce their residual collection charges by placing more unsuitable material in recycling bins, increasing the contamination problems already facing MRFs and re-processors.
"Collection systems where the workers are unable to operate any form of quality control prior to loading materials onto the vehicle will surely collect more of what should have been residual waste," says Brian Head of Berryman Glass. "Combining variable charging with commingled collections is simply asking for trouble, doubly so if compaction is also involved."
Mal Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Cylch (Wales CRN), says: "Direct or variable charging is a good interpretation of the polluter pays principle that the campaign supports. The problem is with the collection systems in some areas, not variable or direct charging."
"Variable charging needs to be part of an integrated approach that accounts for both quantity and quality", said Andy Doran of Novelis. "Applied to commingled collections, it will mean more tonnage into the MRF, so the authority will pay more in gate fees, but without a proportional increase in recycling diversion for the money spent. Wastage rates from MRFs might well increase and the higher contamination will mean that reprocessors will likely reject more loads."
More Info: Andy Moore on 07767 206001 or Phil Hurst on 07708 423005
Notes to 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. See 5.2.3 in `CIWM's overview of DVC key issues. This can be found at http://www.ciwm.co.uk/mediastore/FILES/14030.pdf |
