Post Brexit UK recycling: Are weight-based models working?

06 Sep 2018 --- A new report concludes that the current weight-based model for measuring UK recycling is not sufficient. The report, published by The Environmental Services Association (ESA), a voice for the UK’s resource and waste management industry, looks at what it would take to meet the weight-based recycling targets proposed by the EU Circular Economy Package, and advises updated recycling measures for producers, along with local authorities and waste services.

“Current EU waste policy measures success or failure on the basis of how heavy something is when it is recycled. There is clearly scope in a post-Brexit world for us to do something much smarter which actually focuses properly on environmental outcomes and enables us to capture more value from our waste resources,” says Jacob Hayler, ESA’s Executive Director.

“This report [Smarter Measures for the Circular Economy] examines how we could bring this about in practice. It offers a clear and pragmatic route-map for introducing new metrics alongside our current weight based system, which could offer us the future flexibility to phase out the most problematic materials and decarbonize our waste and recycling systems most effectively,” Hayler adds.

What should replace weight-based targets?
The ESA has commissioned research to explore the potential benefits of using alternative metrics and measures for different materials and the development of management models that would improve recycling quality.

Essentially, ESA concludes that the system will remain weight based but sophistication can be added by using weight data in a smart manner and combining it with other data and information.

Importantly, driving behaviors must be identified at each stage of the value chain. This includes producer responsibility – many environmental impacts can be avoided by designing products in the right way.

Behaviors and measures should be tracked on three levels: Local authorities, producers and waste services. 

Notably, the proposal places the following responsibilities on producers:

• “We need to drive manufacturing within the UK by demanding recycled content. It makes better sense to recover and recycle materials in the UK rather than send them around the world.”
• “Products containing ‘hard to recycle’ materials should attract a cost of recovery charge. This charge could also drive investment into product redesign and methods to recover and reuse key components.”
• “Instead of an absolute target for recycling, individual material streams could each have their own target, linked to the best environmental option for that particular material.”

Indeed, Simon Ellin, President of the UK Recycling Association tells PackagingInsights: “It is essential that the packaging industry works closely with the recycling sector to understand what materials are easy to collect, sort and recycle. It is also essential that they understand that processing materials that are mixed or bonded together can be difficult.”

Ellin further explains that the recent closing of China's doors to imported post-consumer plastic and waste has led to a more significant amount of displaced waste for the UK to manage. To solve this issue and meet the EU Circular Economy Package goals, multi-stakeholder engagement is crucial.

Why now?
The current weight-based recycling targets for municipal waste have been useful in driving performance to date, according to the report, but their lack of sophistication can create unforeseen behaviors, such as the collection of heavy materials like garden waste to increase performance – although the better environmental option would be home composting.

The focus on quantity can mean that quality is compromised, with low quality and contaminated materials sent to be recycled.

The rethink comes now as The Department for Exiting the European Union has confirmed that all EU legislation which has not already been transposed into UK law will be transferred to UK statute. Meaning, the UK is free to decide the future of its waste policy and laws.

This freedom has given rise to some uncertainty over the future of environmental legislation – including recycling and waste management – policy following Brexit. The impending withdrawal of the UK from the EU – Brexit – has the agreed final date of March 29th, 2019.

The ESA report also notes that rising consumer interest in plastic waste management adequately sets the stage for a rethinking of the strategy.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove recently announced plans to consult on a proposal for a new, independent body for environmental standards. The proposed consultation regarding this suggests that this will be a new, independent body that will hold Government to account for upholding environmental standards post-Brexit.

By Laxmi Haigh