Reduce:Re-use:Recycle?

It’s about a decade ago that we were bombarded from all forms of media and Royal Mail vans to ‘Use Your Postcode’; today’s equivalent is Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.

WRAP, or Waste & Resources Action Programme, is a not for profit company backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has published its review of the year 2009/10.

Some snippets:

(i): Research highlights an estimated 18.4 million tonnes of waste is generated each year from the point of manufacture through to households. This represents total losses of £17 billion per year.

(ii): New Anaerobic Digestion facility open in Staffordshire. This facility will divert over 30,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill, reduce methane emissions from decomposing food and generate enough renewable energy to supply more than 1,300 homes.

(iii): Following a formal review of evidence, WRAP notes that kerbside sort collection schemes deliver reliable quality material at a lower net cost than single stream co-mingled collections.

(iv): An update to the 2006 ‘Environmental Benefits of Recycling’ report reviews evidence from around the world and concludes that recycling is preferable for the materials covered in the review.

On 1^st April, WRAP became the lead body for resource efficiency in England, drawing together the work of six other delivery programmes. This would not only provide a more integrated service to their customers but will save £10 million.

At the moment, as with many other pre-Coalition Government plans, where WRAP will go next is unknown.

A media release July 2010 from the Local Government Association intimated that Britain will run out of landfill space in less than eight years.

There is much that businesses can do now to impact on their waste disposal costs.

Inaction and waiting for reviews and policy decisions will simply see good money following bad.