Greater openness on shipment of waste can be achieved without new law says Assembly Committee

30 November 2009

Members of the National Assembly for Wales’s Legislation Committee No.1 believe that more needs to be done to create  transparency over where local councils ship their recyclable waste.

But they don’t think it needs to be done through a new law, which is why they’re not backing the proposed Shipment of Waste Recovery(Community Involvement in Arrangements) Wales Measure.

The backbench Measure was tabled by Nerys Evans AM who wants more openness in the way Welsh councils deal with recyclate, in particular compelling councils to publicise whether that waste is processed outside the EU or European Free Trade Area(EFTA).

“We acknowledge the lack of transparency in the current arrangements, in particular over whether councils export recyclable waste for processing,” said Committee Chair, Rosemary Butler AM.

“However, we do not believe that the proposed Measure is necessary in order to achieve improvements in the system.

“Furthermore, we question whether the Measure would be the best way to engage local communities in the wider recycling agenda.

“And we are concerned that the proposed Measure would place an additional and unnecessary burden on local authorities and does not represent an efficient and effective use of resources.

“For these reasons, we are unable to support the general principles of the proposed Measure.”

During their inquiry the committee were told by the Minister for Sustainability that the aims of the Measure could be met by encouraging councils to publish information on exported waste.

She added that if this was not successful Welsh Ministers could use their existing powers to require local authorities to do so.

Members also felt that the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Legislative Competence Order, which could receive Royal Approval early in 2010, could allow for a broader measure that could deal with industrial and commercial waste as well as municipal.