Session 1
Constraints
- Sovereignty – need to define primary needs of LAs
- Not subsidy
- Lack of resources/markets
- Lack of alternative uses
- Difficult/contaminated materials
- Understanding material and uses (potential)
- Current "throw away" society
- Durability of products ® manufacturing methods
- Cost of restructuring/redesigning manufacturing
- Standards – required by and of industry
- Regulatino of industry
- Workings of authorities
- Link with collection systems/quality
- Risk – should LAs be taking this role?
- Waste - ensuring that the material is ‘safe’/suitable - regulations
- Lack of joined up thinking
- Restrictions from central Government
- Having the right people to negotiate with industry
- Competition with raw material
- Reliance on traditional disposal routes (incineration/gasification)
- Composite materials eg shoes and packaging/components eg computers
- Scale/size – market share
- Quality of material
- Understanding what the markets are
- Understanding who the players are
- The market perception of quality of material from waste is traditionally poor
- Is it the role of LAs to provide processing services
- Local authorities do not traditionally look at manufacturing industry or economic
development
- Establishing a link between service and resource placement/processing
- Limitations of existing collection systems
- Finding a way t influence local systems/policies
- The contracting process (refuse collection)
- Working with collection/disposal contractors
- Recycling may not be in some contractors’ interest
- Nature of the contracts we enter into
- Sharing risks – find a way to
Session 2
What can we do locally?
- Educate. Public, industry and ourselves
- Find out what the market wants (not necessarily become a player)
- Seek to generate economic development
- Stimulate: understanding – education – LA21
- Co-ordinate our efforts to produce solutions
- Ensure that service provision remains economically viable – by joining
forces (including market share)
- Find larger scale solutions
- Develop new ideas for companies in order that they can use our material
- Work with businesses – give them advice on managing their waste and then ask
for their assistance in using material
- Use of the income
- Understanding both ends of the market
- Create a processing facility or new industry market
- Education – changing the perception of recycled products
- Think about the message ‘Buy Recycled’ – change the emphasis
- Understand what markets/industry there are locally
- Think regionally
Session 3
Three practical solutions for the next 10 years for closing the loop
Discussion
Public procurement
Communications
Textiles/Shoes
Wood
Electrical Equipment
Tyres
- Return shoes to shops
- Put responsibility back to manufacturers
- Safety surfaces – tyres (EU fire regulations)
- Road surface material (tyres)
- Covering potholes in roads (plastics from electronic waste)
- Research and development links with DETR
- Leaded glass from computers into construction
- Furniture – recycling, refurbishing
- Electrical goods - refurbishing
- Wood chip production for gardens
- Understand the characteristics of product
- Partnering with reprocessors and using their expertise to develop ideas
- Using LA to invest in an ‘idea’ and use the ‘profit’ to
reduce the cost of disposal
- Incineration residue – building houses (failure eg)
- Risk is negative as well as positive
- Tyres – separating process – toxic element
- What are the requirements for dealing with tyres?
- LAs should be enablers rather than straight investors
- Tyres
- Acid hydrolysis – energy production on a site
- Specific basis eg garages
- LAs may be able to help small businesses and provide jobs and waste disposal at
the same time
- Best Value – public consultation
- Recycled cotton eg Garth Ward
- Risk sharing: alternatives to disposal. Ensure a saving and spend the money up
front to avoid waste disposal in the future.
