Recyclers and reprocessors


Time for us to find a common purpose


Debate continues to rumble on about the importance of the quality of recyclate, some might say it has gone on for far too long. The reasons for that are many, not least some significantly contrasting opinions on what quality means and the role of regulation in shaping the future of the industry. Ray Georgeson reports.


Ray Georgeson Chief executive Resource Association


T 6 September 5 2013


HE ISSUE of recyclate quality does not go away and if anything attention to it should be heightened. UK manufacturers and reprocessors are under the same pressure they were


when the Resource Association published its Costs of Contamination Report 2012 last December in which it highlighted the real cost to UK industry of cleaning up and dealing with poor and inconsistent quality recyclate coming mainly from UK municipal sources via the network of MRFs. A conservative estimate of £51m a year was reported by our manufacturing members, a serious indicator of the real cost to industry of the impact on them as a result of changes in collection systems in local authorities which in theory have reduced their costs. Add to this the emerging impact of the


Chinese Government’s ‘Green Fence’ policy of restricting access to Chinese markets for poor quality recyclate and a picture should start to emerge of the increasing need to address quality issues in UK recycling. At the recent Resource Association


conference there was a notable alignment of views and concern about the quality of UK material from reprocessors and exporters alike, with Jim Malone of DS Smith and Nick Watson of ACN Europe both stressing the need for improvements in UK quality to be able to continue to feed high quality manufacturing


plant both at home and in China. Hopefully the debate is starting to go beyond the over simplified portrayal by some ‘pro-quality’ advocates as being ‘anti-export’.


Case for better regulation You would think that the case for better regulation of MRFs to improve quality and transparency in the marketplace would now have been convincingly made. Defra is still working on its proposals for MRF Regulations, based on the earlier MRF Code of Practice and now proposed to be introduced within Environmental Permitting regime. A consultation on draft proposals earlier


this year is due to report soon, and it is hoped that agreement will be reached on new regulations very shortly. However, despite the imperative to


improve quality, there is still much detailed technical debate ongoing about the detail of new regulations, including the mechanics of sampling materials, weight and frequency of samples and reporting requirements. The devil is in the detail and it is


important, as without robustness at this level any credibility the regulations should have in giving confidence to reprocessors, councils and the public in terms of what is happening in the sorting of mixed materials will soon dissipate. No doubt this is a challenge for Defra (and for the devolved governments in turn), especially as the mantra of deregulation is still loud in Whitehall and some in the industry continue to resist the level of robustness needed in these regulations. It is a shame, as in our view this is one area of regulation where a genuine boost to UK


industry can result from better regulation and tighter monitoring of quality which will have long term benefits for many in the industry. I note that on several occasions business


secretary Vince Cable has expressed support for appropriate regulation as part of market shaping and I believe that this example falls squarely into place as a good example which supports his view.


Changing nature of export markets A longer term view has to be taken which recognises the changing nature of the export markets for recyclate and looks ahead seriously at the signals on resource security and rebalancing of economic activity in our sector towards a resurgence of European industry - following the lead of the European Commission in its Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe. If the theory behind what the advocates


of a ‘circular economy’ desire is to come true then it needs to be remembered that manufacturing using recyclate remains a core activity essential to the success of the circular economy. It won’t all be about waste prevention, redesigning systems and products to use fewer materials, and exploring new business models and trends for changed ownership and use of goods - essential though all of this is. Let’s make sure we don’t throw the manufacturing baby out with the circular economy bathwater. Current systemsmake this challenging


though; the demands and pressures faced by local councils, waste companies, reprocessors, manufacturers, brands, retailers are not always very well aligned and are often in conflict.


www. r e c y c l i n gwa s t ewo r l d . c o . u k Everyone says all the time that we need a


‘whole supply chain’ approach - that it is not just about regulation of MRFs, or collection systems, or design of products, or managing export risk. Of course that is true and I agree with it, but how is it to be done? Leadership for the whole supply chain from


government and its agencies is lacking. There is too much equivocation and falling


back on the easy excuse of ‘lack of resources’. At some point this has to change and maybe this time the key players across our industry might have to just do it for themselves.


Common Purpose Some of you will be familiar with the organisation Common Purpose and may even have been on their programmes. They take folk from diverse areas of commercial and public life and throw them together to explore and better understand each other’s issues and find common local solutions to society’s problems. I can’t help feeling we need a ‘common


purpose’ approach to gathering all elements of the recycling supply chain in a similar way to try and understand better and crack some of our own challenges. In some ways a return to the values and


principles upon which WRAP was founded to work on recycling market development over a decade ago is needed, but adapted for current challenges. Although I want to see a stronger lead


taken by government and WRAP to support reprocessors and the wider recycling supply chain, I fear we may be waiting awhile. Time to take control and find our own


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


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