Article reproduced, with kind permission, from the April 2000 issue of the Institute of Wastes Management Journal "Wastes Management".

Table 3. Recycling infrastructure projects
Project Description	Environmental Body
Pilot materials reclamation facility (MRF)	Enventure Ltd
Purchase of glass recycling vehicle	Alloa Community Enterprises
Re-activation of recycling plant	Auldcathie Trust
Operate a kerbside recycling project	Bradford Environmental Action Trust
Kerbside recycling scheme	The Wales Environment Trust Ltd
Pilot study of a blue box scheme for kerbside collection	Wastesavers Recycling Association
Project manager for furniture reuse/repair initiative	Waste Management Research Ltd
Funding to support information/liaison manager	East Anglian Business Env. Club
Environment education officer	Wildlife Trust (Cambridge)
Continue glass collection service in Argyll & Bute	Greenlight Environmental
Waste wood reclaim project	Track 2000

 

A win-win project: Recycling Roadshow public education campaign?

An example of a Category C 'Recycling and Promotions' project funded through landfill tax credits is the Recycling Roadshow. This is a landfill tax funded project (worth £49,000), which is about to be launched (late May). It involves a range of stakeholders including the Western Riverside Environmental Trust (funded by Cory Environmental and Cleanaway), Business Eco Logic (Environmental Body), The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (case study authority) and Kingston University (the contractor).

The project aims to promote sustainable waste management to the residents of the Borough, whilst piloting a range of different communication approaches for delivering educational material to the public. The main themes of the Roadshow are to knock on every door in the Borough and talk to as many residents as possible in order to boost recycling participation, to (crudely) measure participation levels, and to educate the residents about waste minimisation, composting, recycling and the services provided by the Borough.

It is expected that a successful method for promoting sustainable waste management and 'good housekeeping' to the public, which is transferable, adaptable, innovative, cost-effective and value for money, will be developed for future trial in other boroughs. The project will consider whether:

• awareness raising campaigns at different times of the day have similar impacts on recycling and recovery activity;

• participation rates remain improved after the Roadshow has been completed in a particular ward or area; and

• the Roadshow is an effective method of promotion for local authorities recycling and waste management services in light of Best Value.

The project has been closely developed by the 'partners' because of the potential win-win for all involved:

• it could help the refuse and recycling contractor (SITA) meet their contractual recycling targets and thus avoid heavy penalties and poor relations with their client;

• the Borough could improve their participation rates and thus reduce the cost per tonne of the recycling service, whilst moving towards greater sustainability in local service provision;

• the higher the recycling rate, the less waste that Western Riverside (the disposal authority) will have to dispose of - thus helping to preserve the dwindling landfill resource in the South East;

• if the campaign works, then the other three constituent boroughs of Western Riverside could also benefit from this approach to improving their recycling performance and the participation of their residents; and

• the University will also benefit by providing 'real-world' experience for its graduates and have first-hand data that can be used in future research reports

Conclusions

These are just a few examples of projects already running under the Landfill Tax Credits Scheme. The potential for other projects is great - whether in education and promotion, infrastructure development, pilot project trials, or R&D - and the forthcoming conference seeks to show how to achieve these win-win situations for the Government, the private and public sectors of the industry and the environment.

If the Government is serious about meeting the targets in the National Waste Strategy then funds need to be found and focused. According to Michael Meacher (Minister for the Environment):
"if we are going to retain private sector status for this scheme... there is a limit to the extent to which one can force more public expenditure into recycling."

Clearly the scheme is expected to deliver significant funds to recycling projects, otherwise as a whole, it could be under threat. It is up to us, as an industry, to ensure that the funds are not only maintained but are channelled into the most appropriate uses for the benefit of all!

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Robert Long Consultancy Ltd or Kingston University.

Adam Read BA (Hons) FRGS GradMJWM is WEMRU Research Fellow, School of Geography, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE. (a.read@kingston.ac.uk)

Robert Walker BSc (Hons) MSc MIWM is a consultant at Robert Long Consultancy Ltd's Lyndhurst head office, Empress House, 12 Empress Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, S043 7AE. (enviro.southampton@wyg.com).