Wales focus


Source segregation: Worth the investment?


Moving from comingled recyclates to source segregation is a brave step, but if the Welsh Assembly Government is going to support local material reprocessors by helping them source quality recyclates, it’s a challenge they are keen to tackle. David Burrows reports.


David Burrows Freelance writer


E


XCEL INDUSTRIES manufactures cellulose fibre insulation for the construction industry using old newspapers. Given the bulk found in the average Sunday rag these days,


you’d think suitable material wouldn’t be hard to come by. But you’d be wrong. Once upon a time, Excel ran a fleet of


vehicles to collect waste newspaper and magazines from its surrounding areas – the “Halcyon days” when the Rhymney-based business was paid a subsidy by councils to collect the ‘waste’. But then councils started controlling their own collection of recycled materials, and then more and more began co-mingling to meet set targets. Given the quality of materials required by


Excel, it had to turn to the paper merchants and this meant it was beholden to open market prices. “We’re a discerning buyer and we have


to pay top dollar for the quality of materials that we want,” says MD Andrew Izod. “We’ve been hit hard in the last half


a dozen years thanks to the shift to comingling. A move to [source-segregated] could provide more of the quality recyclates we need, but that would still go to the highest bidder.” Which these days is China. “I’ve no doubt that in an ideal world we


could source the [20,000 tonnes we need] from the local community, and we’ll pay a reasonable price for it. Sourcing locally also has the knock-on savings [environmental and financial] in terms of exports, but at the moment the reliable infrastructure isn’t there,” added Izod.


Quantity versus quality The Excel situation is representative of one of the major issues currently facing Wales: quantity versus quality. Quantity is key for local government, as the Welsh Assembly Government targets are based on tonnages and that makes co-mingled collections an attractive proposition. But WAG is asking for kerbside sorting, which it believes will result in higher recycling rates, and bigger economic and environmental


savings in the long term. The proposal for a switch to kerbside sorting came in WAG’s ‘collections blueprint’, published last year. The document stated the approach


preferred by the assembly to be “the use of a new generation of high performing specialist vehicles that facilitate efficient kerbside sort approaches”. The blueprint was considered as


ambitious by some, impossible by others. The target to recycle or compost 70% of municipal waste by 2025 – as set out in WAG’s ‘Towards Zero Waste’ strategy – prompted a similar divide. Studies have shown that source


segregation can provide benefits, but that moving from co-mingled won’t be easy. In January last year, research by


Eunomia, commissioned byWRAP, found that the kerbside sort option “consistently outperforms” co-mingled and two-stream systems. However, it also concluded that: “The


advantages of kerbside sorting appear to increase as recycling performance increases. In turn, the advantage of two-stream over co-mingled collection appears to narrow as performance increases. These results suggest that Welsh local authorities will face a challenge in adapting collection systems that may work well now, but may become increasingly sub-optimal as recycling levels increase towards the 70% target.”


Major investment So, there will challenges ahead, and that will require major investment, as David Sher, policy advisor at the Environmental Services Association, explains. “Complexity is only going to increase


as we move beyond the ‘low hanging fruit’ to reach the more ambitious targets so industry has to invest in the technology and management systems to keep things easy for those residents and businesses.” According toWAG, this investment will


pay off. “The Welsh and UK re-processing sectors


want high quality recyclable materials and are willing to pay good prices for them – the high quality agenda will benefit all. There are no hurdles, just unrecognised opportunities,” says a spokeswoman. WAG is putting its money where its


policy is, so to speak. Just last week, environment minister John


Griffiths announced funding of more than £400k to establish a new kerbside sort recycling scheme in the Gurnos and Galon Uchaf areas of Merthyr. At 35%, Merthyr currently has one of the lowest recycling rates in Wales, but Griffiths says the pilot will “test whether this kerbside sort method can help


to deliver 70% recycling”. It is hoped that the


4 March 22 2012


Presteigne and Norton, whose recyclates are source segregated, achieved the national target of recycling over 70% of its waste between April-June last year; 14 years ahead of schedule


scheme will “dramatically reduce” local reliance on black bag collections. Adam Read, AEA practice director for


waste management resource efficiency, agrees that the targets set out by WAG are “demanding”, but going forward quality will be key. “Although quantity remains a key driver,


particularly for local authorities with recycling targets, WAG has also stated that their preference is for closed loop recycling, which means that quality is a key factor to minimise down-cycling of material [for example, from glass to aggregate substitute]. “Recycling only happens when materials


are segregated, processed and then returned to use. With increasing UK recyclate tonnages expected in the coming years it will be harder to secure markets for reprocessing if the quality is poor, hence a need to drive both tonnage and quality in the near future.” Quality is now being written into new


contracts with guarantees surrounding end markets becoming increasingly common in specifications and contractor discussions. Read also says he is seeing more and


more collection and processing facilities looking to drive up quality, through targeted education campaigns, newer technology to sort materials and better quality checks at all stages in the recycled material loop.


Definition of quality However, the definition of quality depends on the end-user. “To misquote HG Wells, ‘In the land


of recycling the reprocessor is king’, and whatever specification is agreed then the collector/supplier has to satisfy it. Quality materials are essentially those in a form that the end market or reprocessor is prepared to


www. r e c y c l i n gwa s t ewo r l d . c o . u k


accept, at an appropriate price for the supply chain, and ultimately this is governed by the market and the amount of material being traded at any one time,” continues Read. Recyclate is part of the global


commodities market and this has hurt businesses like Excel Industries. Beth Winkley, head of the Waste and


Resources Action programme in Wales (Wrap Cymru), admits that the past few years have been hard for businesses like Excel, so it’s important to find ways to help them. Winkley’s team has been working with Izod’s to identify sources for quality material. Wrap funded two research projects


looking at alternative ways to collect clean waste newspaper without turning to paper merchants. One focused on the logistics and benefits of turning to the local community for waste newspaper such as to schools and local small businesses; the other looked at the used book market which found that used books were a cheaper alternative to waste newspaper. Izod says the projects have provided some


very useful insight and a chance to reassess the company’s infrastructure. However, scaling up any such projects


will require investment. “It’s a Catch 22,” he explains. “You need


the infrastructure in place [to do local collections] but you can’t afford to put it in place until you have the volume.” He therefore empathises with the local


authorities asked to put in source segregation infrastructure at huge cost. “There’s a bit of a vacuum in Wales. We’ve moved from 15% recycling to 40% which is pretty good, but to get to 70% we need to change things. The political landscape is currently a little chequered.”


RWW Recycling & WA S T E W O R L D


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12