Friends of the Earth urges the UK Government to Get Sorted on Waste

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to get its policies on waste sorted to boost recycling and composting and avoid building any new incinerators.

This follows a fortnight of confusion over whether the Government will allow councils to give financial incentives to those who recycle more.

Friends of the Earth's senior waste campaigner, Michael Warhurst said:

"It's time for the Government to get their waste policies sorted so that councils can offer financial rewards to those who recycle more. The endless in-fighting is preventing important action that would help us to tackle our growing waste problem, save valuable resources and cut emissions of climate change gases. We already pay for other utilities as we use them, and these schemes work well in other countries."

This plea comes as a Public Accounts Committee report calls for more to be done to get waste out of landfill. It reports that DEFRA "must now take the tough decisions and practical steps needed to promote large-scale recycling" if it is to meet EU targets set in 1999. The committee reports that DEFRA was slow to react to these targets, taking no effective action until 2003. Local authorities now face enormous fines from the Government if they fail prevent more waste going into landfill.