Time to review the question?
20th June 2011
As the inevitable media storm around the Waste Review and the Government’s decision not to reintroduce weekly bin collections begins to subside, we need to ask ourselves what the lasting impact of this review will be.
Although long in the making, Government has consistently stated that it has begun to embrace waste as a resource, which is a step in the right direction. Waste policy, however, will only begin to make real headway when we have a network of new recycling and resource management facilities across the country. Without this much-needed infrastructure, policy will remain merely a paper exercise and as such a missed opportunity for a Government that says it wants to be the greenest ever.
Over the past few years, SITA UK has consistently been saying to Government that it needs to help the waste industry to unlock the vast investment needed to transform recycling and resource management in this country. Through meaningful public consultation and the right incentives we can try to unlock the current impasse as we seek to develop this new infrastructure for the benefit of the wider community.
In my opinion, the Waste Review missed an opportunity to test out one of the cornerstones of this new administration’s thinking, which is to consult fully with those who have a stake and a role in delivery. Rather than having a period of observation and then a long period of introspective policy drafting, perhaps by just asking the right question – ‘how can we help you to achieve our common goals?’ – the Review could have been completed more quickly and created a real direction and framework for positive change.
So our message to Government is that the door is always open if you need to discuss how to deliver real environmental change in this country, just ask the right question and we can help provide the answers.
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