Waste as a resource

In a world that has diminishing resources, what has previously been considered as waste should now be seen as a resource. Householders and businesses are being encouraged to minimise the amount of material that eventually has to be treated as waste. Increasing taxation and cost of raw materials and energy means that this is good financial sense as well as being good for the environment.

Where does CSS stand?

CSS agrees that businesses, especially the retail sector, must be encouraged to reduce the amount of packaging. CSS also advocates a much stronger focus on waste prevention and minimisation. It is working with Defra and a wide variety of partners as part of the Waste Strategy (2007) Waste Stakeholder Group to replicate the success in the management of municipal waste across the construction and cemolition, and commercial and industrial sectors.

Recycling is an essential part of reducing the amount of waste that has to be treated rather than recovered. Councils are providing more opportunities for householders to recycle a greater range of materials. Regular kerbside collections of materials for recycling are provided by virtually every district or unitary council. Many also provide collections for green waste that goes for composting.

In addition, many county and unitary councils provide household waste recycling centres where householders can bring their own waste materials for recycling. Some of these centre reach very high recycling rates – over 60 over cent is not uncommon.

In the UK, the average recycling rate for municipal waste in2007/8 was 34.5 per cent. Under the waste Framework Directive, re-use and recycling needs to reach overall rate of 50 per cent by 2020. Some other European Union countries already achieve these levels.