In our LARAC world the hope for this Spring is publication of the feedback from Defra on the second consultation for the Resources and Waste Strategy to kick start the rebirth of better environmental performance and a paradigm shift towards the circular economy.
Hope springs eternal, I guess!
In the meantime, we have just received the announcement of two consultations that will be very important to our member authorities – digital waste tracking and reform of the waste carriers licensing regime.
The improper transportation of waste creates litter along our roadsides and its illegal collection leaves fly tipping in our built and natural landscapes. We need to take this opportunity to strengthen the requirements for anyone to transport waste and end the free for all that we currently have. Has anybody else seen the social media post where someone registered their dog as a waste carrier? This is at the root cause of problems that blight our communities. It is too easy to give someone a convenient Out. Residents will happily pay some Facebook “Dude with Van” a tenner to take away their rubbish that they can’t be bothered to deal with responsibly. And the chances of that waste ever making it to a lawfully operating waste facility are slim.
It is too easy for Facebook “Dude with Van” to claim legitimacy to the average householder if they can obtain a waste carriers licence with no checks and use a permit for the local HWRC as endorsement from the council that “they are licensed”. Residents don’t know the details of the legislation we work to and so whatever system we replace it with must be simple to explain to them and they must see their place in an environmentally responsible process.
I had an interesting chat with a journalist from MRW yesterday. It was about the delays in implementing the policies in the Resources and Waste Strategy. We agreed that we have effectively lost two years thanks to the Bug That Must Not Be Named so it is natural to expect the policy implementation deadlines also being extended by two years.
The most interesting part of our conversation was around reduce and reuse and the prominence of recycling being the main actor in the policies for improving our performance. I said this was because buying less or reusing what you have butts right up against people’s freedom of choice and perception of status. We/some people measure their worth by the amount they have or how new it is so are the perfect targets for upselling marketing strategies.
“Your Discombobulator version 11 isn’t good enough! You need the Discombobulator Platinum version 11A”
And that is hard to legislate against. It creates a “them and us” situation and that makes change harder to achieve. So maybe we need to change the narrative to praising and recognising those who can make do and mend and do with less. Unless perhaps someone takes the bold step of giving everyone a statutory carbon allowance and every time you travel or buy something your balance is reduced. And not allow the millionaires or billionaires to buy their way out of compliance.
