CRW0004

Written evidence submitted by Saica Natur UK Ltd

Summary:

The Ban was expected and a natural consequence of the misuse and dumping of waste in the recovered raw materials supplied to China. It is an unavoidable consequence and was just a matter of time before the buyers in China would say, no thanks, as the material supplied to them has indeed been inferior. Itis inferior as we in the UK have a poor system in collecting and recycling recovered waste from Households. 

1. We don´t have a National uniform system where we separate, sort and collect recyclables, this creates confusion among the public.
2. We have 70 % pf our collection in a mixed form where all sorts of packaging, paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and non recyclables such as electronics, cables, foodwaste, toys etc are all thrown in the same bin. This creates an impossible task when trying to separate the materials into individual streams meant for various end users and off takers.
3. Finally, we lack an incentive scheme where a household can benefit from doing a proper recycling effort.

All this has led to material being too poor for the buyers and not fit for purpose. We are surprised it took this long for China to stop the flow.

We suggest the following;

1. Immediately introduce nationwide compulsory Reverse Vending Systems for cans and plastic bottles, (look into the possibility Reverse Vending for Coffee cups as well).
2. Have a National preferred collection system for all Recycling with the same message in all (or most) Councils where materials are separated into at least five categories,

a.       Glass,

b.      Fibre = Paper, Cardboard and Other Paper packaging

c.       Other (Plastic) Packaging.

d.      Food waste

e.       Others, General waste, Black Bag waste

3. Incentivise collection of recycling, households with separate bins sorting out a quality material should get discount on the Council Tax. Contaminated material or un sorted is left with the household and should not be picked up. 

My name is Johan Sundblad, I have worked nationally and internationally in Recycling for 28 years.

I am currently the Managing Director for Saica Natur UK Ltd, we recycle approximately 700 000 tons of materials p.a. We collect, separate, sort and sell quality controlled raw materials from various sources to end users throughout the UK and world wide.

The vast numbers of people and households in the UK generate more waste than the domestic recycling industry can take care of. Export is an inevitable fact until such time that the UK has built up its own industry.

1. We need to build more Energy from Waste facilities making steam or hot water for district heating, not just for electricity. It ought to be a prerogative for any large housing complex to have hot water district heating from an EfW facility rather than equipping each individual household with a boiler. The energy in the non recyclable waste can thus be used in an efficient way minimizing landfill.

2. We also need to build more of our own UK recycling facilities. The domestic Paper mills can take care of just about half of the fibre generated in the UK, however that is not a problem as Paper is a world wide commodity and can be traded as long as the quality is according to standards. China took all the bad material for some time, now that is not possible any more and we need to clear up the material we have so it can be sold elsewhere. The same goes for most other Recyclables, if the quality is right. However, from a National resource and Finance perspective it is much better to let it stay in the UK and add value here as it can be used. We and other industrial people would gladly consider to do so subject to the material being sustainably of a good quality, i.e separated from the unwanted parts and contamination. Source separation into sortable fractions is the only way forward, large scale sorting facilities for a mixed comingled stream does not work and does not give the proper quality needed for worthwhile recycling.

3. Incentives to the public, DRS, Deposit Return Schemes do work. Make it mandatory for Retailers to put up a system, Tesco has already said Yes. Cans, Plastic Bottles and possibly coffee cups are all easy to recycle.

4. Incentivise recycling at home for people that do sort properly, lower the Council tax and refuse to pick up green or blue recycling bins contaminated with black bag waste.

Most Members of Parliament will remember  the times we took our glass bottles back to the shop for a refund. Such systems work in many different countries with much more demanding logistics and other challenges.

The solutions are not rocket science, it just being bold and courageous, it will mean more work for the household, but less costs and a better environment.

If we continue mixing our recyclables and not doing anything we will keep having a very low value material that has to be sold for incineration in foreign countries, or landfilled, at great expense for the Councils and eventually the taxpayers.

January 2018