Welsh councils attack plans for statutory recycling targets and penalties

Local authorities in Wales have criticised the Welsh Assembly government’s plans to introduce statutory waste recycling targets.

The waste management Measure – or law – was proposed in February this year after the Assembly was granted powers to through a legal competence order to make its own laws on environmental issues.

The proposals include a power to impose financial penalties on local authorities that fail to meet waste recycling targets. The Welsh government believes the measure is essential to achieve its ‘Towards Zero Waste’ strategy, under which Wales would be a high recycling country by 2025 and a zero waste country by 2050.

But in evidence submitted last week, the Welsh Local Government Association questioned the need for the new targets and powers.

The WLGA said good progress is being made across Wales by local authorities in their efforts to introduce more effective waste management arrangements. “Recycling levels are generally on an upward trend and forward planning is in place to develop the facilities needed to deal with food waste and residual waste,” it said.

If this current rate of progress is maintained, then the amount of waste going to landfill would eventually be close to zero, it predicted.

Pointing out that the Welsh Assembly government already has a range of powers under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 (with the exception of the power to fine for non-compliance, which the government says it would use as a last resort in any event), the WLGA said: “The need for (and/or the timing of) a landfill ban and for penalties associated with statutory waste targets – two of the main elements of the Measure – is therefore questionable from a local government perspective.”

The WLGA expressed concern that there had been no dialogue over other forms of intervention, with financial penalties being put forward as the solution. “This could set a dangerous precedent in terms of WAG-local government relations,” it warned, suggesting this also ran counter to the “generally good working relations that have been established in this field”.

The association added that:

• A mixture of voluntary efforts and existing requirements and plans will go a long way to achieving the stated objectives of the Measure
• All sectors should face statutory recycling targets and penalties for non-compliance – or none should
• While the government has the right to propose and specify national targets or desired outcomes, local authorities should have the right to determine themselves how they achieve these. “Introduction of targets and penalties in relation to ‘means’ rather than ‘ends’ are a recipe for confusion”
• The statutory recycling targets could introduce perverse incentives, and
• The main barrier in relation to waste targets is affordability. “At present there is no certainty beyond 2011/12 in relation to grant support, yet authorities need to invest in new systems and enter into long-term contracts.”