Two workshops were held on 16 May, 2007 at the Community Recycling Network conference in Birmingham. The following summarises the views of workshop participants. They are presented roughly in the order of the importance participants accorded them over the two workshops.
Opportunities
- Cost savings (and options from variable charging)
- Carbon and climate benefits
- The developing Corporate Social Responsibility agenda and 'greening' activities of supermarkets and retailers
- Growing awareness of diminishing resources and impacts of consumption
- Legislation regulating packaging and producer responsibility
- Supporting and promoting reusable bottles and containers (especially within the voluntary and community sector)
- Provision of training by the community/voluntary sector for repairs/refurbishment
- Supporting and promoting campaigns to reduce food waste
- Social benefits
- Projects such as 'Charity Map'
- Encouraging local food schemes
- Provides solution to deal with the amount of residual waste that is not recycled
- 'Retro' fashion and growing market for reusable and sustainable products
- Move towards standardised packaging
- Move towards legislation further regulating advertising to children
- Promoting freecycle and equivalents
- Bad press on some aspect of recycling
- Localisation
Challenges
- Difficulty changing attitudes; contemporary culture dependent on convenience (=disposability); is there political will to tackle consumption?
- Are resources available to develop waste prevention?
- Influence of major retailers and businesses, and media (makeover programmes, etc.); planned obsolescence
- Inadequate government initiatives, legislation and education; lack of national waste prevention strategy
- No mandatory targets; local authorities not giving it sufficient priority
- Perverse incentives - those who produce waste don't pay for it
- Distribution systems geared towards single use
- Waste disposal and recycling both relatively easy
- Waste prevention impinges on lifestyle choices
- Lack of individual awareness of what to do; consumers don't think it's up to them
- Packaging producers may oppose
- Difficult to measure
- Affluence