LARAC has warned that the latest small rise in the England recycling rates shows that local authority services are struggling to expand further in the face of ongoing budget cuts. LARAC has praised its members for continuing to try and improve and expand services where they can to keep the rate rising. LARAC however believes that unless support from Government and industry flows into local authorities the UK will miss the 50% target and be at risk of incurring fines from the EU. LARAC has also questioned whether it is right that the burden of meeting these targets is falling on the public purse when budgets have been drastically reduced and funds from producer responsibility schemes do not appear to be making a difference.
Andrew Bird, Chair LARAC, said “local authority officers continue to work hard to expand and implement new services and the increase in the rate shows they are still doing this. However the increases are still small and show the pressure on council budgets is now having an effect. It looks increasingly likely that the public purse will struggle to deliver the 50% so it is time Government and producers stepped in to provide the funds that are needed for new services.”
LARAC points out that a large part of the success in Wales is the associated funding that has accompanied the clear policy drive for high recycling. LARAC also highlights the wide range of services that councils provide outside of waste and that these are all battling for funding. With the 50% target falling squarely on the UK Government LARAC again calls on them to provide more mechanisms that allow funding to flow into council collection schemes.
LARAC believes that recent talk of consistency and mandated food waste collections are not helpful as these will not give a sudden increase in recycling rates. Instead LARAC believes the time has come for urgent discussions with Government, producers and industry to implement new recycling services. LARAC highlights the CIWM Ricardo Energy and Environment report earlier this year as evidence that local authorities have worked hard to innovate and drive efficiencies in their services.
