Many issues spring to mind when looking at our fast moving sector and there are plenty of paradoxes. Probably the greatest of these is the reality that local authorities are ferreting in the long grass for salami slice approaches when, as far as waste is concerned, the fastest way to a £1 billion saving in Local Government is an organised transfer of end life household waste costs from the community charge to bills at the checkout via Producer Responsibility single point systems.

Clearly there are caveats - Manufacturers need protection against possible bully tactics from retailers so we need an ‘Office of Fair Trade approach’ to protect them as well as consumers... but a whole range of products (WEEE, packaging, pharmaceuticals, absorbent healthcare, paints, garden products etc) account for around 10m tonnes of low-hanging fruit.

As raw materials prices rise due to population increase, developing national demand and exchange rates, the attractions to recover feedstock as materials or energy fuels to offset CRC-traded permits or carbon taxes start to get interesting. How about it?

PTJ