Everyone knows the effects of this particular economic downturn are far ranging, but the effect on recycling is slightly disappointing. A general global slowdown has caused demand for raw materials to suffer, and this has in turn depressed the demand and price for recycled material. So you have the case in the UK where Local and Central Government has been trying to get us to recycle more and more (and we’ve been doing it reasonably well and the Government’s target of 40% of waste recycled by 2010 looked achievable) but now we have more recyclable material than we know what to do with. The demand for it has rapidly and dramatically dropped off. The UK is particularly stuck since we have very little recycling resources locally: most of our recyclable waste goes overseas to places like China, and the cost of shipping the material is now proving to be un-economical. So prices haven’t just fallen, the market itself has shriveled up.
So now, you have a situation where 75% of UK councils are reporting price drops (the other 25% are on fixed contracts with companies that take the waste - although presumably they may be suffering as well) and 27% of councils are actually storing materials in the hopes that the market will pick up again. The Environment Agency has said that it will support councils storing recyclable materials on a temporary basis (6 months - or possibly longer if needed). What’s clear is that if the material starts working its way back into landfill, confidence in recycling will be damaged severely. With 23% of councils looking for alternatives to recycling, Paul Bettison, the Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board has them to consider landfill as the option of last resort. He said in a letter to councils:
“If the difficult market conditions were to persist and it be necessary to consider temporarily using other waste management routes, councils should follow the waste hierarchy. The waste prevention message should, of course, always come first. When looking at alternatives to recycling, the composting of biodegradable materials and then energy recovery should be considered. Landfill should be a last resort.”
He is, of course, right - we need to waste less first. In lean times, this makes double sense as it means we use more of what we’re paying for, and we pay less in council tax for collecting and disposing of it. The UK also really needs to consider whether it needs its own recycling facilities to deal with a larger proportion of its waste. In the meantime? Reduce your waste, Reuse what you can, Recycle what you can’t. And hope the councils come up with a good plan so we don’t end up like a scene from Wall-E.
