Evening News, 26/3/02

Mark Lazarowicz:

We must not waste a chance to change - EACH year; households in the UK generate 29 million tonnes of solid waste. The huge quantity of rubbish that we generate on a daily basis is a reflection of the high consumption society in which we live today. Very little of this is currently being reused or recycled - eight per cent to be precise, and only 5.5 per cent in Edinburgh according to the latest Scottish figures. Twelve per cent of waste is being incinerated, and the remaining 82 per cent is simply dumped as landfill.

Just as significant is the inefficiency of the production process – for every ton of goods consumed in the UK, a staggering ten tons of raw materials are used to produce them. So how can we change this situation of economic inefficiency and put an end to this growing waste mountain?

The response must take place at three levels - Scottish, UK and European - and involves manufacturers, consumers and government working together to formulate a sensible waste management strategy.

The Scottish Executive is in charge of many aspects of recycling policy and has recently drawn up a National Waste Strategy to improve Scotland's performance in this area. The European Union has also set targets for member states for the reduction in waste going to landfill and the amount which is to be recycled.

As a Westminster MP, my role involves seeking to influence what the Government does in those areas of environmental policy, which are still determined at a UK level. Since devolution, this has meant in practice the setting by the Government of rates of environmental or "green" taxes.

In previous Budgets, the Government has successfully introduced the principle of "polluter pays" into our tax system. Both the Climate Change Levy and the Landfill Tax have been introduced to encourage industry and local government to think about the way in which they dispose of their waste and the amounts of raw materials, which are necessary for production and business purposes. This represents a powerful tool to encourage producers to think about the effects their actions can have on the environment and the local communities in which they operate.

In advance of next month's Budget, I have been pressing in Westminster for new green tax measures which take forward this principle and make it more profitable for all sectors of the economy, consumers included, to reduce and recycle more waste.

SERA, the Labour Party’s green campaign group, has supported my "early day motion" on a sustainable waste strategy. This motion has now gained the support of 80 MPs, mainly Labour, but a few from other parties as well.

My motion seeks to extend the principles of the Government's new waste taxation policy in three ways - firstly, by introducing volume-based charging for domestic waste, something that will only work if accompanied by more doorstep recycling schemes for households; secondly, new measures to encourage the reduction and re-use of waste; and thirdly, changes to the current system of taxation to discourage local authorities from using incineration as an alternative to landfill. By levying a charge on households, which generate a high amount of waste, people would be encouraged to think twice about throwing away valuable items, which could be brought back into the production chain. But the quid pro quo of this would have to be improved provision of doorstep recycling facilities for households in the UK.

In all the areas of the UK, which have implemented "green box" schemes, the rate of recycling has increased significantly. Only a radical approach such as this would enable the UK to meet its recycling targets in the next five to ten years and catch up with our more advanced European neighbours.

Not only is recycling important, waste reduction and re-use of materials must also form a central part of a sustainable waste strategy. I am a strong supporter of the "deposit refund" schemes, which used to operate for bottles in this country. This is a simple idea and could be used for anything from used domestic batteries to electrical equipment, computer hardware and even disposable cameras, as well as for the traditional items like glass bottles.

Such schemes are already in place in Denmark and Holland and we should seek to follow their example here, although it would be important to ensure that the inconvenience to the customer of returning the item was outweighed by the size of the refund. In Ireland, a scheme has recently been proposed to encourage shoppers to cut down on the number of plastic bags they use. The supermarkets sell "bags for life" which can be used many times over and are replaced for free once worn out, instead of giving away free plastic bags on every shopping trip. Each ordinary plastic bag purchased there will now cost 9p - we should think about having a similar scheme here.

The third element of my motion looks at the problem of incineration, which is currently being used by local authorities as an alternative to recycling to deal with waste. I do not believe incineration is a long-term solution to our waste problem for two reasons. The process generates by-products, which are potentially harmful to human health and the environment, and it does nothing to reduce the demand for raw materials, which has led to the current waste mountain. Ironically, the reverse is true - it increases the demand for waste because it needs more and more of it to be economically viable!

I am therefore suggesting two changes, which have the potential to tip the balance in favour of recycling as a waste management solution.

The first is an extension of the Landfill Tax to cover incineration. Currently, the high costs of landfill have meant that local authorities in charge of disposing of waste have looked to cut costs by instead incinerating waste. This is not a sustainable option, and therefore, by raising the costs of incineration as I propose, recycling will become the cheapest option.

The second change is to the Climate Change Levy rules. At present, incineration sites are exempt from paying the levy because they are deemed to be offering a "renewable" source of energy similar to wind and solar power - burnt waste from incinerators is often used to generate electricity.

The Government has established the right foundation for a sensible and measured approach to green taxation, and has offered policies, which have the potential to change the habits of industry, consumers and local government when it comes to waste management. I believe these policies have widespread public support, and I hope that the Chancellor will recognise the strength of public opinion on these issues in this or future Budgets.

Mark Lazarowicz is Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith