May 17th, 2013
by Phillip Ward
Defra is reviewing WRAP – again. Although styled a funding review in reality it goes much wider.
The consultation paper acknowledges WRAP’s past achievements but goes on to ask a number of questions about priorities and the WRAP business model. Essentially these cover:
February 20th, 2013
by Phillip Ward
Defra’s much-delayed Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) Code of Practice and the accompanying Quality Action Plan have now been published. Most of the reaction has been positive, but not from the Resource Association which represents the businesses that have to use the output of the recycling system. I think they are right to be disappointed and need support in persuading Defra that their current proposals will not achieve their stated objective. Defra’s aims are set out clearly enough:
January 25th, 2013
by Phillip Ward
All the talk of strivers and skivers has led me to think about the point of work.
Once a society gets beyond subsistence, work can be considered as a means to both create wealth and, however imperfectly, share it.
November 28th, 2012
by Phillip Ward
The upside of Eric Pickles’ venture into waste funding is that thanks to the good sense of local authorities not all of the £250m Weekly Collection Support Scheme will be wasted. By my reckoning it will pay for 23 new or extended food waste collections to be introduced and various expansions of recycling services, without any significant return to weekly residual waste collections.
November 14th, 2012
by Phillip Ward
Local authority recycling figures for England for the year 2011/12 have just come out from Defra. The good news is that for the first time more material is being recycled or composted than is sent to landfill. The bad news is the confirmation of what we have suspected for a while; the rate of growth in recycling is stalling.
