There has been a clear influx of responses on the published 'Resources and Waste Strategy' which demonstrates a clear direction that the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson needs to take - that is to prioritise it.
According to Jacob Hayler, the executive director of the Environmental Services Association (the trade body for the waste management sector), after the publication, there was a great number of consultation responses to the Strategy in his policy statement, that outlined this necessity. In amongst these responses, DEFRA outlined its proposals on recycling consistency, and set out timelines for further actions on extended producer responsibility for packaging, a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, and a tax on plastic packaging - along with publishing the feedback for the consultations that had ran earlier this year, they helped to form DEFRA's thoughts on options that it will decide to take forward.
Hayler has said, "To that end, producer responsibility reform must place strong incentives on producers to design their packaging for recycling.
"These early indications on the detail Resources and Waste Strategy are promising. Clearly further work is needed to ensure the proposals are cost-effective and deliver the right outcomes."
He believes that since there is no demand for the plastic material, there is no point collecting more of it. As such, the Plastics Tax is a positive first step in helping to close the loop and stimulating domestic reprocessing, with the deposit return system being a complement to the measures that can capture commonly littered and unrecycled materials.
The public sector has positively welcomed the Government's decision to not impose mandatory free garden waste on councils. Councillor Martin Tett has stated, "We are pleased DEFRA has listened to many of our concerns, including seeking further evidence on mandatory free garden waste collections, and recognising the need for local flexibility on compulsory food waste collections and separate collections of materials for recycling." The Local Government Association supports the move to a clearly defined core set of recyclable materials - provided only if it is funded and regularly updated.
