The Waste Wishlist

As we near the general election, political parties are making multiple promises to different industries. We get it, they’re looking for votes and lofty promises are an easy way to lure supporters. While the general public may be swayed by idealistic policies the waste management sector is somewhat more sceptical. They’ve had to deal with the flip flopping of government policy, the lack of funding and being left to find solutions to the problems all on their own. Government support is needed, collaboration is desired, but how can we make this happen?

Leading up to the elections several industry bodies have voiced what they need from the new government. We take a look at what tops the wish list, and whether it’s even possible to turn this into reality?

1 – Stop the delays

There are several policies including EPR and simpler recycling that are being held up with endless debates on how best to implement. While it’s understood that these are complex projects, every month they’re delayed, adds to the problem, rather than being part of the solution. The industry has extensive expertise that can help advise and fast-track implementation. The industry needs clarity on policies if it’s to invest in infrastructure and equipment to be able to support these programs. This isn’t possible if delays persist.

2 – Leverage industry expertise

It’s blatantly obvious that government lacks the expertise needed to develop a circular economy, and the waste and resource sector has an abundant supply of talent. Through recycling and waste processing efforts, glitches can be identified and solved. Take, for example, when it was identified that thermal imaging had difficulty sorting black plastic food containers. These black plastics were labelled as problem plastics and retailers were discouraged from using them. Whilst some retailers heeded our advice, the sector decided to solve the issue. Now AI powered sorting machines have overcome these problems and processing is more efficient. If a circular economy is to be achieved, the waste and resourcing sector has a detailed understanding of what’s needed to achieve this. The government would do well to leverage this.

3 – Green skills development

All industry sectors are impacted by environmental concerns in some way or another. If the UK is to meet it’s renewable and sustainability targets, it needs to invest in skills and expertise to be able to effectively transform all industries. This means moving beyond waste management to developing skills that can help decarbonize manufacturing, and help report on supply chain efficiencies and sustainability. Even get the tech and finance industry involved. Sustainability skills are transferable and no investment in developing them will be squandered.

4 – Focus on high risk, high impact

There are a number of sectors that are particularly challenging in terms of recycling and creating circular economies. WEEE for example, as well as battery recycling is responsible for many fires in transfer stations and processing centres. Similarly, industries that produce hazardous waste are creating an additional environmental burden that needs to be dealt with. Taking a holistic view of risks and impacts highlights where to focus efforts. Recent banning of single use vapes is one such example on high-risk high-impact polices. In addition to generating vast volumes of problematic waste, vapes are often the cause of fires in recycling centres.

5 – Resource resilience

One of the major challenges in transitioning to a circular economy is that there are so many different types of resources in circulation. This makes it difficult and expensive to recycle materials in a way that is economically viable. Resource resilience needs to be about more than the availability of materials, it needs to incorporate the impact on biodiversity and regeneration of natural resources. Up until now this area of business has been largely ignored. But, as studies show, biodiversity loss has had a major impact on the extreme climatic events that are being experienced around the world. For this reason, resource resilience needs to inform government and trade policies, in order to have an impact.       

While there are many more items on the wish list, these five are arguably the most pressing. Who knows what the results of the upcoming election will be? Well, you could have a good guess…. One can only hope that politicians will lift the blinkers long enough to realise that if the UK is to have a sustainable and resilient future, the waste management sector has a vital role to play.