Description
In 2002, Green Alliance published a report Creative Policy Packages for Waste: Lessons for the UK1, which examined the waste strategies of some leading European countries and states in the USA.We concluded that high recycling rates (30-60 per cent plus) and avoidance of disposal to landfill were straightforward to achieve if the right instruments were put in place, and that the UK had these instruments at its disposal if it cared to use them. However, we also observed that while high recycling rates had been achieved, these countries’ efforts at waste prevention had been much less successful, and their own commentators tended to conclude that more radical instruments were needed. At the same time, we noted that producer responsibility measures were often part of the policy mix employed by these progressive countries, and, for some, formed the backbone of their strategy – for example, Sweden. These too had been good at delivering recycling, but less good at changing products in a way that either facilitated recycling or prevented waste at source. That made it particularly intriguing when the UK Government’s Strategy Unit published its own report on waste strategy, shortly after ours, and recommended the addition of two new producer responsibility initiatives per year2.What should these initiatives aim to deliver, and how would they fit with the UK’s broader waste strategy? Under what conditions could producer responsibility deliver changed products and practices, in pursuit not just of greater recycling, but a broader sustainability agenda? These are the questions this project has sought to answer. Available to download with the kind permission of Green Alliance.