Vox Pop: should recyclable waste be banned from landfill?

YES
This is a good idea, in principle. Anything that helps divert more recyclables and more materials from unnecessary landfill should be welcomed. The wealth of collection and processing experience now available in Britain means there should be few reasons for not collecting common recyclable materials. Advances in processing technology to produce quality recyclates are often shaped by having sufficient volumes of recyclables for processing, coupled with having end reuse markets. If certain materials are to be banned from landfill, authorities need to be given time to expand their collection services. The public must be encouraged to recycle as many materials as possible by making collections simple and easy to use.
James Donaldson, founder and managing director, Greenstar WES

NO
I think it would be better to increase the target in terms of a carbon measurement. As far as recycling goes, there is an existing regime in place and it would be best to adapt that. There are so many questions surrounding landfill bans. Is it all aluminium? What does it include? Are we going to be collecting every single piece of aluminium? Will we have to pick off the aluminium foil from Kit-Kat wrappers? And collect recyclable waste from remote areas? Does this include waste from commercial institutions or just domestic? With domestic waste, it will be difficult to regulate and extract every single recycled material, which raises the question of when the removal of the material from landfill-destined waste would take place. We need a straightforward plan for this to work.
Duncan Simpson, director of marketing, Valpak

YES
ESA has already supported landfill bans. For example, our members have worked to make a success on bans of liquids, flammable, corrosive, explosive, oxidising and infectious wastes. We have no ideological opposition to further restrictions that are supported by a strong evidential base and are signalled well in advance with a planning regime permitting the provision of alternative treatment routes for materials restricted from landfill. Everyone knows the value of aluminium and plastics are increasingly being recycled rather than landfilled.
Dirk Hazell, chief executive, Environmental Services Association

NO
Not yet. It’s tempting to think a landfill ban would force more recycling out of the system. But bearing in mind that 99% of aluminium packaging is consumer packaging, it’s clearly essential to be sure – before the final decision to go for a zero-waste society is made – that technology can be developed, and investment made available, to accurately sort materials from such a vastly increased volume of waste, and that enough anaerobic digestion or energy-from-waste plants to handle the residues can be built. Because without quality, the environmental benefits of recycling can easily disappear. If we set this highly attractive goal of a zero-waste society, a landfill ban will have its place, but we must be clear from the outset that the task of extracting top value recyclables should be prioritised over recovering lower grade materials and residues.
Rick Hindley, executive director, Alupro

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