Isonomia

by Mike Brown

Sometimes it takes a really clear expression of the fundamentals of a point of view to help you see what’s wrong with it. A couple of weekends ago, BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions came to the Gloucester Guildhall. One of the hot local topics is the county council’s incinerator plan, and a number of its opponents were in the audience, and a question was raised about whether it was “a blot on the landscape or a necessary step to securing an ecologically sustainable environment”.

Read more on Incinerators in the dragons’ den…

by Amy Slack

If you become known as ‘Bin Girl’, then generally there’s a very good reason for it. In my case I’m glad to say it wasn’t due to spending a lot of time rummaging through people’s rubbish. It might seem an unfortunate label, but after six months managing the distribution of new recycling and food waste containers to 51,000 households across a Surrey District Authority, I became rather attached to it!

Read more on Bin Girl in or contract out?…

by Wayne Hubbard

The concept of a revolving loan fund may not be revolutionary – as long ago as the 1950s the UK government had such a scheme in place to help farmers afford new infrastructure. But it is new to waste management in London, and I believe that it has the potential to stimulate London boroughs to respond creatively to the financial pressures they are under and find opportunities to maintain or even enhance services while making savings.

Read more on What goes around……

by James Fulford

Eric Pickles’ Weekly Collection Support Scheme reminds me for some reason of an under-stocked all-you-can-eat buffet. Local authorities that commit to collect refuse weekly for the next five years will be invited to fill their boots, whilst those with fortnightly refuse collection wishing to provide a weekly food waste service, will be grudgingly shown to the back of the queue, to pick over the scraps. Show the waiter a special innovation ticket and you may find yourself advanced a few places in the line.

Read more on Pickles’ free lunch…

by James Fulford

I spent last weekend in Abu Dhabi – not catching a bit of winter sun, unfortunately, but cocooned inside an air-conditioned modern hotel. I was there to present to Middle Eastern private sector waste professionals, interested to gain a European perspective on the likely future for the industry in their part of the world. It was an interesting challenge thinking about what they could learn from the European experience.

Read more on Waste management in the desert…