‘Get radical’ to achieve zero-waste goal

23 May 2007

Pay-as-you-throw powers, together with radical measures to increase producer responsibility, are needed to reform UK waste policy, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.
A new report by the IPPR and Green Alliance urges the Government to pursue a more ambitious approach to improving Britain’s overall recycling rate which, at 42%, is dwarfed by a 70% rate achieved in areas such as Flanders, Belgium, San Francisco and Canberra, Australia.
The report urges the Government to replicate these regions by adopting similar, zero-waste goals. To help create a zero-waste society, it proposes a number of measures on two levels – maximising recycling, and ‘designing out’ waste. On the first level, a pay-as-you-throw service offers the greatest potential for increasing recycling rates. ‘This makes waste services seem more like a utility, such as power and telephones, rather than an inalienable right,’ the IPPR report states. ‘It also sends a message – the treatment of waste, even if it is to be usefully recycled, is not something we should take for granted.’
However, such powers should depend on local authorities introducing quality recycling systems, measures to mitigate fly-tipping, and ways of coping with any disproportionate effect on low-income households. It also calls for higher recycling rates to be set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review, under a new public service agreement. This should be at least 50% by 2010 and 60% by 2020, rather than the ‘unambitious’ 40% and 50% respectively mooted in the waste strategy consultation. Other recommendations include introducing an incineration tax so waste is not steered towards the next cheapest or easiest option of incineration.
The second level of zero-waste policy – designing out waste – entails much more radical change. Currently producer responsibility, the report argues, does not offer enough incentive for individual producers to rethink their product designs. To counter this problem, the report urges the Government to tax environmentally-damaging or hard-to-recycle products. A product levy would be applied to products such as multi-layers beverage cartons, plastic packaging, and disposable cameras and nappies. The money could be used to fund collection and recycling, or to encourage consumers to choose more environmentally-friendly products.
Nick Pearce, director of IPPR, said: ‘Zero waste means going further than maximising recycling, to stopping things being discarded, through waste prevention. It means taking a close look at product policy to persuade consumers to buy products which have less non-recycable or hard-to-recycle packaging.’

A Zero Waste UK www.ippr.org

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‘Get radical’ to achieve zero-waste goal

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