The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) has given a cautious welcome to yesterday's Waste Policy Review announcement, but has said that Government must go further to meet its zero-waste economy ambitions.
Commenting on the review, Alupro executive director Rick Hindley said: "It's great that the Waste Policy Review commits to prioritise recycling materials like aluminium that can bring the biggest environmental benefits, but there is little actual policy to make sure that this happens."
He added that many of the ambitions outlined in the review are in line with the metal packaging industry's own ambitions. "We are delighted to see the review's endorsement of industry programmes such as Every Can Counts and metalmatters," he said. "However, the industry cannot continue to shoulder the burden of promoting metal recycling alone. With further support from Government and other key stakeholders the recycling rates for these materials could be even better."
Prioritising materials
Commenting on the Waste Policy Review's commitment to prioritising the materials that can deliver the biggest environmental benefit, Rick Hindley said:
"The commitment to focus on materials that can deliver major carbon savings is a positive move: every tonne of aluminium recycled saves nine tonnes of greenhouse gases compared to using new materials. However there is no solid policy in place to make sure this prioritisation happens at a local level.
"Increasing the amount of aluminium packaging recovered from households is largely dependent upon local authorities and waste companies prioritising the collection of aluminium - and no significant drivers have been proposed to address this.
"We are disappointed that the Waste Policy Review does not include a firm commitment to introducing carbon-based recycling targets. This is being implemented in Scotland and will clearly focus local authorities' attention on materials which bring the most significant carbon benefits."
Recycling on the go
On the Waste Policy Review's commitment to increasing recycling away from home Rick Hindley said:
"Recycling on the go is a key priority for the metal packaging industry as so many items like drinks cans are used away from home.
"Already we are working hard to increase recycling rates away from home through initiatives such as Every Can Counts, so we're pleased to see the Government and WRAP committing to focussing on this area and on expanding these recycling and equitable across all materials.
"Alupro also supports the review of the Producer Responsibility regulations as part of the Packaging Directive review. We hope that this will lead to even greater support from stakeholders for packaging recycling.
"It is interesting that the Government appears to have ruled out the introduction of a deposit scheme to drive packaging recycling and has instead floated the idea of a voluntary agreement to specifically promote the recycling of metal packaging. We look forward to hearing more on this."facilities."
Packaging
Talking about the Waste Policy Review's attention on packaging, Rick Hindley said:
"Alupro is pleased that the review acknowledges the important role that packaging plays in protecting and preserving food and drink.
"We fully support a review and introduction of more challenging packaging recycling targets that are fair.