FMJ.CO.UK WASTE MANAGEMENT FOCUS
JUNE 2019 39
Last December, Defra published its longawaited
and highly anticipated ‘Resources
and waste strategy for England.’ The document
set out the government’s plans to preserve
material resources by minimising waste,
promoting resource e iciency and moving
towards a circular economy.
While not all the strategy will have a direct impact
on facilities managers, the way we collect, process
and manage our waste is going to change as a result
of its implementation. The key plans and areas for
attention are listed in the box below.
Overall there are few surprises, and the general
consensus seems to be that the strategy addresses
most of the areas with the greatest potential. As
always, however, the devil is in the detail – and
arguably this is where it falls well short of the
mark. The numerous consultations required to
agree progress on key issues mean that it’s light on
concrete actions and heavy on ‘definite maybes’. This
is due in part to the strategy being intrinsically linked
to Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan, which is vast
and has a heavy emphasis on household waste.
As a result, you could argue that the strategy as
it stands is not really a strategy
at all but more of a framework
which identifies a direction of
travel. As nearly all the key areas
including tax, DRS (deposit return
schemes) and extended producer
responsibility require consultation,
it’s likely we won’t have a concrete
strategy with meaningful actions for quite some
time. The likely timescale for a DRS coming into
play, for example, looks like being around 2024. In
practice, this is well beyond the event horizon of
most businesses, who will o en set strategies over
shorter periods.
This may mean that businesses choose to
do nothing, or that we unintentionally create
an increasingly disparate market through
the development of new initiatives which are
implemented with partial knowledge. There are
already signs of this happening with a number of
THE
OF WASTE
Harvey Laud, Divisional Director at Reconomy,
considers the likely impact of Defra’s resources
and waste strategy on the FM sector
retailers investigating or trialling small-scale DRS
systems of their own. It is unlikely that these will
become e ective until they are standardised and
legislated for.
WAIT AND SEE
Another unintended consequence of the strategy is
that it could disincentivise businesses from taking
steps to improve their resource management in
the short to mid-term. Understandably, very few
businesses will want to be the first to make a
move, and experience tells us that until the detail
is understood and there is a
legal requirement to change,
the majority of businesses
will seek to maintain the
status quo and simply comply
with current requirements.
Ultimately, the risk is that the
looming presence of change will result in very little
movement for four years.
It is impossible to evaluate the strategy objectively
without taking into account the impact of Brexit.
Progress on many of the areas identified in the
document could have been accelerated if it were
not for the current level of uncertainty. Sweden,
for example, has had a functioning DRS system for
15 years, which we could have simply taken and
replicated. Certainly, we need to be realistic and
understand that resource management may not be
seen as a priority by the majority of politicians or
civil servants in the current climate.
Overall, though, there is reason to feel positive.
Those of us working in the facilities management
sector have a clearly signalled direction of travel and
some clear guidance on where our e orts should be
focused to deliver significant change over time.
We must also remember that the strategy is not
the sole driver for change. Consumers continue
to become more discerning and businesses are
increasingly aware of the potential impact on their
brand from social and environmental actions, or
lack of them. It is important that businesses initiate
conversations to leverage this brand capital and
avoid reputational damage.
As the strategy continues to evolve, businesses
are well advised to look to companies who can
support them with the advancement of their
resource management plans and services. Delaying
these improvements will only result in unnecessary
additional costs and a constrained environmental
performance.
KEY POINTS THE STRATEGY AIMS TO:
Ensure producers pay the full costs of disposal
or recycling of the packaging they place on the
market by extending producer responsibility
Review our producer responsibility schemes for
items that can be harder or costly to recycle,
including cars, electrical goods and batteries, and
explore extending it to other materials such as
vehicle tyres, certain construction and demolition
materials and bulky waste
Introduce a consistent set of recyclable materials
collected from all households and businesses and
consistent labelling on packaging, so consumers
know what they can recycle in order to drive up
recycling rates
Introduce a deposit return scheme, subject to
consultation, to increase the recycling of singleuse
drinks containers including bottles, cans and
disposable cups filled at the point of sale
Ensure weekly collections of food waste for
every household – restoring weekly collections
in some local authorities. This will be subject to
consultation, which will also consider free garden
waste collections for households with gardens
Explore mandatory guarantees and extended
warranties on products to encourage
manufacturers to design products that last longer
and drive up the levels of repair and reuse
Introduce annual reporting of food surplus and
waste by food businesses. Should progress be
insu icient, there will be a consultation on
introducing mandatory targets for food waste
Clamp down on illegal movements of waste at
home and abroad by introducing compulsory
electronic tracking of waste and tougher penalties
for waste crime.