roundtable: environmental issues 23


“It’s a shame because we should be trying to recycle materials rather than just recovering the energy through a thermal solution.”


Farrow noted that recycling presentations at conferences were often made by the same large consumer-facing big brand companies. "That’s OK, they have an additional CSR need to be seen to be doing the right things, but are we getting through to the smaller companies who don’t have that CSR need, who are simply focused on margins and survival?”


Carrot or stick?


B P Collins solicitor Diane Yarrow regretted that such incentives were needed. There has always been a section of the consumer base who recycle as a matter of principle, and do not need to be motivated to do so, but “Can you change consumer behaviour more generally and effectively without rewarding them for making the change in behaviour? I don’t think you can.”


Roscoe noted Greenredeem points-reward schemes had seen recycling rates jump upwards in some local authorities. “So, I think change can be achieved.”


Andrew Hillier: “I suspect that you will reach a certain percentage of householders who want to do it and then you get the remaining percentage who will be really hard to change. That’s where we need to look at incentives and fresh ideas. Sadly, at the end of the day, the true incentive for take-up will be financial.” Once all the green-minded consumers had been fully engaged, taxation, law or incentives would be the only answer, he believed.


Diane Yarrow


Such upbeat presentations could give an exaggerated sense of sustainability in the UK, he felt.


“We are not at a stage yet where enough investors or consumers mark you down if you are not being sustainable.”


Money will make the message go round


Eco-preneur Sean Reel remarked: “There is a great motivator out there called money that will drive behaviour. But, there is a problem. You get marketing and CSR teams saying a circular economy with a recycling facility in every store is great, but then you get the retail operational guys saying ‘Over my dead body'."


The balance was between the marketing perception and the real cost to the business. “Change is happening, but how can we engage more consumers? Ultimately, they change the retailer’s attitude.


“We can push, but consumers can pull, and their voice will be louder, with social media one medium that will make the change greater and more widely heard.


“Now there are campaigns building and hopefully the mix of a social media platform and the recovering UK economy will drive change.”


Roscoe mentioned a Grundon “reverse vending machine” initiative providing a points-reward scheme for every can deposited. “The thing is it personally rewards individuals for recycling.”


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2013


Roscoe felt there was a distinction between consuming households and businesses. “Householders are somewhat divorced from the true cost of waste disposal, whereas businesses have to pay directly for their waste bins and have the impact of Landfill Tax (LT) on what they don’t recycle.”


The increasing role that regulation could play


Roscoe: “I find it distressing that England is falling behind Scotland and Wales for landfill bans on things like food waste.” DEFRA is still doing the sums on feasibility, he added, but such bans were ‘no-brainers’. “Until these bans come, I don’t think you will stimulate smaller businesses to change. Unless there is a clear financial driver, the pressures of everyday business are such it will be difficult to persuade small businesses to pay the additional costs for recycling.”


Simon Copping: "Increasing LT has been a main driver for several years but is there an issue at the municipal end with householders sorting their rubbish? Is there enough money going into that to incentivise households and make that a reality, or are we seeing that slow down in the past few years?"


Roscoe highlighted that a lot of private money was invested in Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of food waste, having been supported by government Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROCs). “There is a good AD business model there if you can incentivise households to work better with AD waste plants.”


Copping: “At least we have not yet gone down the ‘pay to put it in the bin’ route."


Farrow acknowledged that such taxation would bring a solution, but stressed that few governments would risk the political storm of what would be seen as a recycling ”stealth tax”.


If the Government was determined to meet EU recycling targets, how long could things go on before such enforcement action was required, queried Murray.


Farrow noted that the Scottish and Welsh governments wanted to be seen to be as green as possible, whereas in coalition England senior ministers don’t want to risk a radical waste policy. “Provided we can meet our EU targets on waste – 50% recycling by 2020 – then No 10 will feel their main objective has been achieved, and the current projections are that we will just scrape over that line.”


Problems with the Energy Bill and partially inflated lilos


The new Bill should help, but it may not, said Farrow. The problem is the new Bill has become so complex that even civil servants were unsure on some matters.


Matthew Farrow


“Everything about the Government’s Green Agenda has revolved around changing market frameworks and setting targets, but it is now incredibly difficult to forecast how the market will respond to all these incentives, such as feed-in tariffs.”


While the industry players wanted clarity, certainty and stability to formulate their long-term investment strategies, he feared the Government might frustrate them by tinkering with its energy policy at the first sign that the market was not reacting as predicted.


www.businessmag.co.uk Continued overleaf ...


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