Isra-Mart srl:GMB reveals recycling postcode lottery

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-mart srl news:

A new report from public sector union the GMB has revealed huge differences in the recycling rates delivered by councils across the UK, warning that unless they step up recycling efforts, taxpayers could be landed with a £1.7bn-a-year bill by 2014.

The analysis of recycling rates revealed that while a small handful of councils such as Staffordshire Moorlands, South Oxfordshire and Rochford in Essex now ensure that more than 60 per cent of household waste is sent for re-use, recycling or composting, other councils still send more than 80 per cent of their waste to landfill.

Ashford Borough Council was named as having the worst recycling record in England with only 15.3 per cent of household waste sent for re-use, recycling or composting, while Lewisham, Newham and Manchester City Council all had recycling rates of less than 20 per cent.

The report reveals huge opportunities for recycling firms in certain parts of the country, with urban areas in particular showing there is enormous capacity to increase recycling services.

The GMB also calculated that as a result of poor recycling rates, councils faced a landfill tax bill of £1.1bn last year, which could rise to £1.7bn by 2014 as a result of increases in landfill taxes unless efforts are made to drastically improve recycling rates.

Brian Strutton, GMB national secretary, said there was a financial onus on councils to improve recycling rates.

"Dumping waste in landfill sites is not only bad for the environment – it's also increasingly uneconomic," he said. "Landfill tax, designed to encourage recycling, is due to rise very sharply over the next four years from the current £48 per tonne to £80 per tonne by 2014 and that is why recycling has to be the order of the day. At the moment the bill is around £1bn per annum charged on households through the council tax and the total cost including landfill site fees is double that."

He added that the analysis revealed how councils could learn from those local authorities and businesses that had managed to pioneer highly effective recycling strategies.

"GMB's data shows that some councils are recycling a good proportion of their waste and therefore paying relatively little landfill tax," he said. "However, there are huge variations between the best and the worst with no obvious explanation for these differences... Unless councils make a concerted effort to improve recycling rates, the landfill tax bill is set to rise by around £670m per annum, taking the total cost of landfill to over £3bn per annum."