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In My Opinion

What's arising? Prevention, not cure

Dr Adam Read: Waste prevention ultimately saves money

Dr Adam Read looks at the ups and downs of waste arisings and argues that councils should be focusing their attention on prevention and reduction going forward

There is little doubt that the current economic situation is a concern for us all, but these difficult times are having some unexpected benefits for the waste management sector. The latest Defra statistics (October 2007 to September 2008) show that recycling levels in England are higher than ever before at 36.3%, and that levels of household waste arisings dropped from 25.3M to 24.9M tonnes, with average residual household waste arisings decreasing to 314kg per person (from 328kg in 2007-8).

This is heartening news for those of us involved persuading the public to minimise, reuse or recycle their rubbish. Perhaps for the first time since the post war era the public has a real incentive to act more responsibly with respect to its rubbish - the need to be financially prudent is encouraging visible changes in consumer choices. We now have an opportunity, possibly unique in recent times, to encourage and reinforce these newfound frugal behaviours before the economic situation improves and everyone reverts to their old wasteful habits.

A study by the Waste Improvement Network in December 2008 identified trends in waste arisings. The authorities with the lowest total waste arisings per head in 2007-8 all produced less than 300kgs per household, while a number of authorities had recorded a 10% decrease in their year-on-year arisings. These impressive figures were attributed to a number of key activities - restricting their residual waste through the introduction of alternate weekly collections and lid down policies, and using enforcement measures and consistent campaigning to ensure that the waste prevention messages are accurate and fresh in the householder's mind.

As part of the ongoing waste prevention debate, Defra commissioned AEA and Resource Futures to undertake a study to understand the factors that influence the growth or decline in municipal solid waste arisings. The emphasis has been on developing robust case studies with quality data sets and to overlay local policy decisions, campaigns and wider economic conditions on to the data to help draw conclusions about what local authorities can do to impact positively on their waste arisings.

The data analysis is now complete and we expect Defra will publish the report in the autumn, but many of the key findings support the WIN survey - and those authorities with the strongest portfolio of measures and policies are the ones that have achieved the greatest reductions in their arisings - a 10% decrease is deliverable.

Clearly these impacts have not been achieved without cost, and many elected members will resist funding waste prevention campaigns because they cannot see the impact in the same way that recycling campaigns do - tonnage in bins! However, with consumers now making their own decisions in these difficult times and the costs of waste management likely to continue to increase over time perhaps now is the window of opportunity for local authorities to start investing in waste prevention campaigns and reap the benefits that they can provide in terms of savings in collection, treatment and disposal.

Start pulling together campaigns that promote waste reduction as a means of saving money, identify opportunities for reuse and promote durable products, train frontline staff to encourage waste prevention, and focus on food waste collections to build the momentum that has clearly started to gather. The time to act is now!

Dr Adam Read is knowledge leader in waste management & resource efficiency at AEA

Posted on 02 June 2009

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Is waste still a dirty word when it comes to public perception?

Yes, they don't see the potential value of it
Maybe, but attitudes are slowly changing
No, it has almost become sexy!

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