Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Lib Dem Cynical Claim of the Week
On their website this month the Lib Dems are making great things of their recycling initiative to put 50 "Dual Use" bins on the streets of MK.http://www.miltonkeynes.libdems.org.uk/news/265.html?PHPSESSID=6c43c43ab0723ded5d8d63cb3c42e88f They are quoted as saying Official figures for 2005/06 show that the Milton Keynes recycling rate was 31.5% of the total of household waste collected. That figure is set to rise to 36% over the next year. . Intersting. The actual stastistic is of 115,000 tonnes of household waste generated last year 31.6% was recycled or composted. In other words a significant proportion of that 31.6% comes from the green bins that contain organic (garden) waste. The rest goes straight to landfill.
It's unfortunate for the Lib Dems that I attended the same presentation from the officers of MKC that they did last month, and I have the actual figures in front of me!
What the lib Dems haven't told you on their website are the damning facts that highlight their policy-paralysis before the May elections.
Firstly, Municipal Waste (that is household and corporate combined) is growing on average by 2.5% every 4 years, but the annual population growth has been only 0.6% over the same period. In other words the amount of waste produced is growing far faster than the growth in population, and it will nearly double by 2020. While the Council is aiming to increase the amount of waste going for recycling to 36% next year it will never catch up with the growth of waste. In fact it's predicted that in 2008/9 we will exceed our landfill allowances. here's where it gets painful (i.e. costly). If we exceed our landfill allowances (set by Government) then we get fined as an authority £150 per tonne. If the growth in our waste contniues at the current rates by 2020 it will be costing us £8,000,000 a year in fines at today's prices.
What exactly are the Lib Dems doing about it? Well the answer is, until after the next election practically nothing!
There are some thorny issues to be grasped. First of all we need to encourage recycling so that we send less away to landfill and reduce the potential fine burden on the finances of the Council Tax Payers. Secondly we need to invest in the infrastructure needed to handle waste, and that means some sort of waste handling facility. There has been a lot of work done (much of it excellent too!) by the team at MKC responsible for Environmental Services centred around joint working with other authorities to investigate various forms of waste handling. It remains to be seen if any decisions will be taken this side of May given that the Lib Dems don't want to loose seats to contentious issues. I think we need to grasp them, and here's how:
Firstly I think the green bin scheme ought to be extended and, if finances allow, be provided free of charge.
Secondly I think that recycling is something that should happen in the home and not be relegated to a meagre 50 bins around the city. I believe we ought to prvide small bins so households can segregate paper waste, alluminium, and plastics and that those containers are put out with the bins every other week. Segregating recyclable waste in a centralised facility is expensive. It may take some time to change the behaviour of people to naturally think about segregating their own waste, but it will happen over time. It can even be encouraged through schemes to reduce Council Tax to households that recycle, a tactic that has been used in the US (successfully) for years.
Thirdly we need to invest in decent waste management facilities. Inicineration is the safest way of dealing with the problem (landfil can produce methane and CO2, the worst of the "Greenhouse Gases" as it decomposes) which can be burned off through the incineration process. The technology has progressed in leaps and bounds in recent years so that it is clean and the exhaust gases filtered to remove any smell. More importantly the heat generated can be fed into a Combined Heat and POwer (CHP) system that can help generate electricity and send it back into the national grid (negating the need for Wind Farms!) .
All of this needs to be fully scoped and investigated, funding needs to be found, and political will invested. Of course with an election comnig up you can bet that the Lib Dems will talk much and do little until after your votes are cast. What they will do though is shamelessly trump a drop in the ocean inititive like as if they have solved all of the world's problems at once.
Remember the Lib Dem Mantra:
Be wicked. Act shamelessly. Stir endlessly.
It's unfortunate for the Lib Dems that I attended the same presentation from the officers of MKC that they did last month, and I have the actual figures in front of me!
What the lib Dems haven't told you on their website are the damning facts that highlight their policy-paralysis before the May elections.
Firstly, Municipal Waste (that is household and corporate combined) is growing on average by 2.5% every 4 years, but the annual population growth has been only 0.6% over the same period. In other words the amount of waste produced is growing far faster than the growth in population, and it will nearly double by 2020. While the Council is aiming to increase the amount of waste going for recycling to 36% next year it will never catch up with the growth of waste. In fact it's predicted that in 2008/9 we will exceed our landfill allowances. here's where it gets painful (i.e. costly). If we exceed our landfill allowances (set by Government) then we get fined as an authority £150 per tonne. If the growth in our waste contniues at the current rates by 2020 it will be costing us £8,000,000 a year in fines at today's prices.
What exactly are the Lib Dems doing about it? Well the answer is, until after the next election practically nothing!
There are some thorny issues to be grasped. First of all we need to encourage recycling so that we send less away to landfill and reduce the potential fine burden on the finances of the Council Tax Payers. Secondly we need to invest in the infrastructure needed to handle waste, and that means some sort of waste handling facility. There has been a lot of work done (much of it excellent too!) by the team at MKC responsible for Environmental Services centred around joint working with other authorities to investigate various forms of waste handling. It remains to be seen if any decisions will be taken this side of May given that the Lib Dems don't want to loose seats to contentious issues. I think we need to grasp them, and here's how:
Firstly I think the green bin scheme ought to be extended and, if finances allow, be provided free of charge.
Secondly I think that recycling is something that should happen in the home and not be relegated to a meagre 50 bins around the city. I believe we ought to prvide small bins so households can segregate paper waste, alluminium, and plastics and that those containers are put out with the bins every other week. Segregating recyclable waste in a centralised facility is expensive. It may take some time to change the behaviour of people to naturally think about segregating their own waste, but it will happen over time. It can even be encouraged through schemes to reduce Council Tax to households that recycle, a tactic that has been used in the US (successfully) for years.
Thirdly we need to invest in decent waste management facilities. Inicineration is the safest way of dealing with the problem (landfil can produce methane and CO2, the worst of the "Greenhouse Gases" as it decomposes) which can be burned off through the incineration process. The technology has progressed in leaps and bounds in recent years so that it is clean and the exhaust gases filtered to remove any smell. More importantly the heat generated can be fed into a Combined Heat and POwer (CHP) system that can help generate electricity and send it back into the national grid (negating the need for Wind Farms!) .
All of this needs to be fully scoped and investigated, funding needs to be found, and political will invested. Of course with an election comnig up you can bet that the Lib Dems will talk much and do little until after your votes are cast. What they will do though is shamelessly trump a drop in the ocean inititive like as if they have solved all of the world's problems at once.
Remember the Lib Dem Mantra:
Be wicked. Act shamelessly. Stir endlessly.
# posted by Sherington Tory @ 12:38 PM 
