Audit Commission Waste Management Quick Guide :: wasteaction.org.uk

Communities secretary Eric Pickles is pressuring the Audit Commission to withdraw controversial guidance on alternate weekly collections...

A leaked Audit Commission document notes that the life-cycle of a fly is 14 days and accordingly, fortnightly collections should be "okay". The guidance also appears to sound a note of caution about the incineration of waste jeopardising recycling levels if this matter is not considered carefully.

The internal document, 'Waste Management Quick Guide', rose to prominence the other week when Mr Pickles launched an attack against its supposed support for "unhygienic" and "unpopular" fortnightly waste collections.

The document is written in an easy-to-read style for use by Audit Commission staff and was not meant to be seen outside of the Commission. However, it has now attracted criticism from the secretary of state who has long opposed "bin bullies" and criticised fortnightly waste collections.

The 24-page guide is three years old. It was issued in August 2007 to Audit Commission inspectors working with local authorities to give an overview of waste management and recycling practices, describes waste management as "not rocket science".

Incineration is identified as a "contentious area" in the Audit Commission guidance. Although it is accepted as "better" than landfill, the document states that "burning mixed waste is no longer really sensible practice".

The document raises questions over the use of incineration alongside other disposal methods, the Audit Commission claims a detrimental link between council recycling performances and the use of incineration as a disposal route. It states: "For a long time, councils with incinerators have had poor recycling rates."

The guidance urges councils to find a balance between the "efficiency in collection and efficiency in treatment/disposal" and claims "eventually, there will be a balance between recycling/incineration (or some similar treatment) and landfill".

Stressing the need for balance, it states that incinerators "need a regular supply of waste" and claims: "The importance is not to embark on [an] arrangement that will prevent another [treatment method] taking place. Incineration has typically been a culprit in this - the contractor requires, say, 100,000 tonnes of waste a year to operate the incinerator. This is the big difference between incinerators and other treatments."

Source: www.letsrecycle.com