Recycling and waste

Incentives for recycling by households – draft guidance for informal comment

Powers in the Climate Change Bill establish a legal framework for up to five local authorities to pilot waste incentives schemes. To complement this, we intend to issue guidance to assist local authorities in designing and running successful schemes.

Further background on waste incentive schemes can be found at:

Guidance

There are six pieces of draft guidance which can be found below.

We are inviting comments on an informal basis on the draft guidance, which will be taken into account in producing updated versions. Comments should be sent to: waste.incentives@defra.gsi.gov.uk. The deadline for comments is 25 July 2008, except for comments on the good recycling service guidance which should be sent no later than 11 July 2008.

Please also use the above e-mail address if you have any queries about the informal consultation or would like hard copies of the guidance.

[Please see below the Department’s confidentiality statement regarding consultations.]

You may wish to take into consideration the following questions when providing comments on individual pieces of guidance:

  • Where the guidance puts forward criteria, do you think these criteria are suitable?
  • What other criteria do you think should be considered?
  • Does the guidance suitably cover the issues involved in running a waste incentive scheme?
  • Are there areas you think the guidance should cover but does not?
  • Is there anything in the guidance you believe should not be included?
  • Is the guidance sufficiently easy to understand?
  • Is there anything in the guidance that needs to be explained more clearly?

Application and Designation Guidance – This guidance sets out what criteria the Government will use in assessing local authority pilot proposals and selecting areas to run pilots. It also explains how authorities should submit pilot proposals, what information they will need to provide and how the designation process works.

Technical Issues Guidance – This guidance primarily considers four possible main models for waste incentives schemes – sack-based schemes, bin volume, frequency of collection and weight.

Finance Guidance – This guidance provides examples of how rebate only and charge and rebate schemes can be structured. It covers issues including revenue neutrality, accounting, billing, collection of outstanding charges and appeals.

Coverage and Disadvantaged Groups Guidance – This guidance identifies some issues which authorities might want to consider when deciding which people, properties and areas might be included in an incentive scheme; and how to take account of groups which could be unduly disadvantaged.

Good Recycling Service Guidance – This guidance sets out the minimum statutory standard for recycling which a pilot authority will be required to meet. [NB It is not intended to provide a standard against which all authorities should seek to operate.]

Unauthorised deposit or disposal Guidance – This guidance aims to help local authorities who want to implement an incentive scheme develop a strategy for ‘preventing, minimising, or otherwise dealing with the unauthorised deposit or disposal of waste.’

Monitoring and evaluation

 It is essential that we gather high quality evidence from the pilot waste incentive schemes in order to report back to Parliament, and to establish whether powers to run similar schemes should be made available to all local authorities in England. It is likely that we will wish to consider some of the environmental, social and economic impacts of schemes, as well as the efficiency of their administration. We intend to develop and consult on a framework for monitoring and evaluating the pilots later in the year.

Confidentiality statement

In line with Defra's policy of openness, at the end of the consultation period copies of the responses we receive may be made publicly available through the Defra Information Resource Centre, Lower Ground Floor, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. The information they contain may also be published in a summary of responses.

If you do not consent to this, you must clearly request that your response be treated confidentially. Any confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system in e-mail responses will not be treated as such a request. You should also be aware that there may be circumstances in which Defra will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations.

The Information Resource Centre will supply copies of consultation responses to personal callers or in response to telephone or e-mail requests (tel: 020 7238 6575, e-mail: defra.library@defra.gsi.gov.uk). Wherever possible, personal callers should give the library at least 24 hours' notice of their requirements. An administrative charge will be made to cover photocopying and postage costs.

Page published: 20 June 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs