Chelgate's Deputy Chairman briefs Westminster on recycling

24 November 2009

Chelgate's Deputy Chairman Nick Wood-Dow today hosted a Westminster Briefing at the Commonwealth Club, focused on the future of recycling services.

Cllr Paul Bettison, who chairs Improvement and Efficiency South East, an organisation spreading best practice between local authorities, spoke of the NIMTO – “not in my term of office!” – obstacles to important changes. But he reflected on the fact that recycling in the UK has trebled in the last decade: positive changes can be made, especially with greater investment where needed.

Sue Reed, an advisor to the Waste and Resources Action Programme talked about the importance of responding to public opinion when encouraging recycling. Satisfaction rates, she noted, are already very high, with 88% being satisfied with how their refuse service is handled and 79% with their recycling services. When it comes to particular services being unavailable – even temporarily - the key is that people know why.

Paul Levett, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Environmental Services, argued that incentives simply work better than penalties. This applies to private companies also, which would prefer to avoid the negative publicity of having hit the most sympathetic of individuals with fines for failing to recycle.

Alison Knight of RecycleBank discussed her company's trial schemes in two local authorities. Recyclebank works by rewarding households for their recycling levels with points that can be exchanged for meals, clothing, supermarket goods, cinema tickets and many other items, up to a value of £140 per year. These points can also be donated to local schools or to charities. If this is successful, as it has been already in the United States, the scheme may be of interest to local councils across the country.