Waste & Recycling

A snapshot poll by the Local Government Association has claimed that the cost for councils of recycling has increased by, on average, £500,000. It added that 20% of councils have felt a direct impact on China’s restrictions on imports of mixed paper and certain types of plastic over the last year. According to the LGA, the fee charged to councils to process materials from kerbside collections at a materials recovery facility has increased from £15 per tonne to £22 per tonne. The fee has increased to £35 a tonne compared with £29 a tonne for contracts signed in the last year. Martin Tett, the LGA’s environment spokesman, said: “It’s clear that the ban by China on imported waste, which could soon be implemented from other countries, could have a marked impact on councils’ ability to recycle. It’s essential that the government provide support to help councils offset the loss of income they face as a result of the ban and encourage manufacturers to use more recyclable materials. ​ “Councils are doing all they can to improve recycling rates, which is why 100% of councils collect paper for recycling, and 99% collect plastic bottles. The rising costs caused by this ban risk combining with ongoing and severe council funding pressures to affect other essential local services. “It is essential that the government take the opportunities of the upcoming autumn budget and publication of its resources and waste strategy to assess the financial impact of these bans on councils thoroughly, and encourage manufacturers to take up more of the responsibility for dealing with these unrecyclable materials.” Michael Martin, Thorn Baker Industrial Recruitment Branch Manager commented; ''Manufacturers need to do far more and take more responsibility about how their products and packaging can be recycled. The media is now highlighting how much plastic is in the oceans and the adverse effect this is having on wildlife. ''As a recruitment agency that supplies a number of local authorities we see first-hand how funding cuts are reducing personnel levels, which in turn impacts what services can be done. And the reality is that issues such as the environment & recycling suffer as they are not everyone's priority. ''Central government need to think outside of the box and look at initiatives like the plastic bag charge to incentivise manufacturers and consumers alike to recycle as much as possible.'' Don't miss out on the latest Industrial news, tips and jobs Subscribe here

FM World reported last week a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) said that the UK’s approach to calculating packaging recycling rates is not sufficiently robust, and the government appears not to have faced up to underlying recycling issues. Reducing waste and using resources more efficiently are long-standing objectives for the government, and tackling packaging waste is essential to achieving these ambitions. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimates that the UK has exceeded its overall packaging recycling target every year since 1997 and recycled 64 per cent of packaging in 2017. But the NAO has found that these figures do not account for the risk of undetected fraud and error. A key government initiative to ensure that packaging is recycled – the packaging recycling obligation system – has subsidised waste exports to other parts of the world without adequate checks to make sure that it is recycled. Defra also has no evidence that the system has encouraged companies to minimise the use of packaging or make it easy to recycle. The packaging regulations create a complex market-based system to meet packaging recycling targets. They require companies that handle over 50 tonnes of packaging a year and have a turnover higher than £2 million to demonstrate that they have recycled a certain amount of packaging by obtaining recovery evidence notes from accredited UK reprocessors and companies exporting waste for recycling abroad. In 2017, 7002 companies registered and paid a total of £73 million towards the cost of recycling packaging. The report identifies that the Environment Agency, which is responsible for enforcing the system’s regulations in England, has fallen well short of its targets for inspections. In 2016-17 the agency only carried out 40 per cent of planned compliance visits to reprocessors and exporters to check they accurately report the amount of packaging recycled. The risk that companies over-claim is potentially more acute for exporters than for UK-based recycling companies, with risks that some exported material is not recycled under equivalent standards to the UK and is instead sent to landfill or contributes to pollution. Yet exporters rated as high-risk were less likely to receive a compliance visit than those rated low-risk. The agency has also identified a large number of companies that may have an obligation to pay into the system but have not registered. It does not have a good understanding of how significant the financial risk could be. Defra has committed to reform the system as part of a new strategy for waste and resources. The NAO recommends that Defra should improve its approach to calculating packaging recycling rates. It should also do more to tackle the risks associated with waste being exported for recycling overseas. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “If the UK wants to play its part in fully tackling the impacts of waste and pollution, a tighter grip on packaging recycling is needed. Twenty years ago, the government set up a complex system to subsidise packaging recycling, which appears to have evolved into a comfortable way of meeting targets without addressing the fundamental issues. The government should have a much better understanding of the difference this system makes and a better handle on the risks associated with so much packaging waste being recycled overseas.” Don't want to miss out on any of the latest industrial news, updates and jobs Subscribe here

Your latest Industrial newsletter is out now It's been a busy month for the Industrial sector; with minimum wage updates, Brexit, plastic law changes and GDPR - how have these changes affected your business? Matt Dann, Director, rounds up the last month for you... "May sees the start of the Industrial busy season with Easter well and truly behind us. The two Industry hot topics: GDPR and how will the impact of Brexit on labour during the traditional sector seasonal peaks. In fact, we have already started supplying workers into local companies who are packing product ready for Christmas! Another area that I think will be a hot topic over the next few months is the single-use plastic debate. Is this already a big discussion for your business or are you ahead of the curve?'' Read your news in full by clicking here What else has been happening in the Industrial sector? Net migration of EU nationals to Britain falls. Data suggests Brexit uncertainty is outweighing UK’s reputation as ‘jobs factory of Europe’, could this affect your supply chain? Nicola White, the ONS head of migration statistics, said: “The figures also show that non-EU net migration is now larger than EU net migration, mainly due to the large decrease in EU net migration over the last year. However, migration of both non-EU and EU citizens are still adding to the UK population.'' Recycling Must Remain a Priority in Single-Use Plastic Debate. How will the plastic law changes affect your production? Motivation for recycling must be bolstered as consumers turn their back on single-use plastics, according to a supplier of recycled plastic pallets. Recent high profile news articles on plastics polluting the oceans and conflicting reports about the success rates of recycling could result in a confusing message, warned Jim Hardisty, Managing Director of Goplasticpallets.com. Making the Apprenticeship Levy work for you. Employers have seen the Apprenticeship Levy as a cost for a year now, and many have yet to realise any benefit from it, have you thought about how it could benefit your business? At the Talent in Logistics Conference 2018, Managing Director of Bis Henderson Academy, David Lynch, will outline the value the Levy can bring to businesses and discuss how it can be used to boost skills. Read your news in full by clicking here Don't want to miss out on any of the latest industrial news, updates and jobs? Subscribe here