It has been really exciting to see the level of response to the report 10 Ways to Cut the Costs of Local Authority Waste Collection I recently led on for Eunomia. It was written to coincide with the RWM/CIWM conference in Birmingham last month, but has picked up a lot more attention than I might have expected when I pulled it together. It feels like we’ve highlighted something of real current interest for local government and the response has been really exciting.
Writing the report gave me an opportunity to present at the hugely well attended conference. Speaking to a few people about it afterwards, they were struck by the operational focus of what they’d heard, and the practical, accessible nature of what was proposed. I’d brought a few hard copies up to Birmingham, and the majority of them disappeared pretty quickly – although perhaps it helped that they were free, and the Eunomia stand was just a few feet away from where I’d given my talk…
Media interest
More surprising has been the interest the paper has garnered from the media in our sector. LetsReycle published an article based on it, LAWR are going to do something similar, I’ve written a piece for MRW to be published either next week or the week after and the CIWM journal is apparently planning to run something in December.
The best thing about the report being picked up is that it is getting read by more people. Waste services seem to be one of the very few places where local authorities have the potential to make pain-free savings, and as a user of local government services I worry that without the right advice, some may miss out on the opportunity. So, if you’re reading this and you happen to know a local authority waste manager, will you do me a favour and send them a link?
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