Waste management and recycling (or rather, the lack of) have been making headlines this summer. As a waste company at the forefront of best practice, we were pleased to read of proposed measures to tackle waste (mis)management issues.
A cross-sector group of experts has called on the Government to put a series of measures in place to tackle waste leakage.
Jacob Hayler from the Environmental Services Association explained the problem to the MRW:
This is largely due to low barriers to entry, and loose or unenforceable operating standards and regulatory requirements. We are calling for the Government to commit to implement a series of measures… to improve the regulatory regime
The group is proposing changes to the CBD (carriers, brokers and dealers) regulatory regime in order to tackle inadequate, sloppy, and even criminal practices. Their recommendations include:
- Carriers, brokers and dealers should have separate regulatory requirements
- These must be stricter than the current requirements, with tougher barriers to entry
- There would be new permit systems for carriers, brokers and dealers, including an application fee and compliance monitoring
- There should be a tiered system for waste carriers, based on the amount and type of waste they deal with
- Record keeping would need to be improved, including evidence of the end of destination for waste
- Waste producers still have obligations and responsibilities; however, CBDs would need to be more aware of their responsibilities and there would be more onus on them as waste professionals
These are just suggestions at this stage; however, having worked in waste management for over a quarter of a century, we at Kenny Waste Management would welcome these measures to improve the industry’s professionalism.
We particularly like the emphasis on transparency, which is what’s needed to reduce mishandling and wastage. Our online reporting system ensures that all the waste we handle is recorded and its final destinations logged. As well as our state-of-the-art transfer station, we always carry out visual inspections at every stage of the process, and this attention to detail from our trained team ensures we’re always compliant.
At Kenny Waste Management, we’re confident we’re well ahead of the game on this one. As we’re genuinely passionate about our closed-loop system and zero-landfill aims, it’s great to hear that waste management regulation could be tightened up across the board. We’ll keep you updated.
