The challenges and opportunities of waste prevention

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House of Lords inquiry


The Science and Technology Select Committee of the House of Lords Science has announced and inquiry to look at sustainable approaches to waste reduction.

The inquiry will focus on the first level of the waste hierarchy, waste reduction, and will look into ways in which products and production processes can be made more sustainable and therefore produce less waste. The Committee is now inviting evidence.

Waste reduction the most important environmental issue.

According to a survey conducted for Dow Corning, waste reduction is now considered the single most important environmental issue by companies in the USA, Brazil, Italy, Germany and China.

Key Performance Indicators?

The Local Government White Paper set out a new performance framework for local government. The backbone of the new framework will be around 200 indicators covering all Government's priorities for local delivery. One option considered is the possibility of setting statutory levels for waste not reused, recycled or composted per head.


Beyond Recycling

Waste prevention : challenges & opportunities


Two workshops were held on 16 May, 2007 at the Community Recycling Network conference in Birmingham. The following summarises the views of workshop participants. They are presented roughly in the order of the importance participants accorded them over the two workshops.

Opportunities

  • Cost savings (and options from variable charging)
  • Carbon and climate benefits
  • The developing Corporate Social Responsibility agenda and 'greening' activities of supermarkets and retailers
  • Growing awareness of diminishing resources and impacts of consumption
  • Legislation regulating packaging and producer responsibility
  • Supporting and promoting reusable bottles and containers (especially within the voluntary and community sector)
  • Provision of training by the community/voluntary sector for repairs/refurbishment
  • Supporting and promoting campaigns to reduce food waste
  • Social benefits
  • Projects such as 'Charity Map'
  • Encouraging local food schemes
  • Provides solution to deal with the amount of residual waste that is not recycled
  • 'Retro' fashion and growing market for reusable and sustainable products
  • Move towards standardised packaging
  • Move towards legislation further regulating advertising to children
  • Promoting freecycle and equivalents
  • Bad press on some aspect of recycling
  • Localisation

Challenges

  • Difficulty changing attitudes; contemporary culture dependent on convenience (=disposability); is there political will to tackle consumption?
  • Are resources available to develop waste prevention?
  • Influence of major retailers and businesses, and media (makeover programmes, etc.); planned obsolescence
  • Inadequate government initiatives, legislation and education; lack of national waste prevention strategy
  • No mandatory targets; local authorities not giving it sufficient priority
  • Perverse incentives - those who produce waste don't pay for it
  • Distribution systems geared towards single use
  • Waste disposal and recycling both relatively easy
  • Waste prevention impinges on lifestyle choices
  • Lack of individual awareness of what to do; consumers don't think it's up to them
  • Packaging producers may oppose
  • Difficult to measure
  • Affluence