Recycling Articles : Recycling Politics

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Like most things, as recycling began to enter the public consciousness it has become a focus for political debate. Political parties are continually using their stance on the environment as a campaigning platform and new legislation is common.

For the most part, this is a good thing, raising the issue and bringing it to the attention of the general population. Unfortunately, now and again misuse of this important issue by political parties and government bodies does occur. A recent example of this is the fine levied on a householder by a Council in Wales for putting the wrong kind of rubbish in one of his recycling bins.

Often, political debates rally around the government’s decision to build waste incineration plants. The arguments somtimes become strange and many recycling campaigners have argued against the creation of waste incineration plants. The argument is that it destroys any incentive to recycle, reuse or to look for biodegradable packaging. For example, Friends of the Earth are against incineration plants, despite the fact that most people will agree they are far more preferable than landfill sites.

However, perhaps the most contentious political issue surrounding recycling are the targets that the government often attempts to set and legislate over.

By taking into account various research and proposals, the UK government often devises targets for the increased recycling of waste over the coming years. These are rimarily designed to ensure that we keep the promises made as a nation at the Earth Summit and Kyoto Agreement. Many pressure groups exists to attempt to lobby world governments into setting high targets for waste reduction, one of these being the Sustainable Development Programme, sponsored by the UN.

The European Union currently insist that 25-45% of packaging materials that are normally sent to a landfill must be recycled by EU countries. Amongst these packaging materials, aluminium, glass, steel, paper, plastic and cardboard are included. However, the government’s target for the year 2000 was only 26%, just over the threshold. At the same time, the national packaging recycling rates in Germany were 75% and in Holland they were 50%.

Unfortunately, the UK currently recycles less than most other European Union countries which means that pressure is often exerted upon Local Authorities whilst waste Disposal companies are favoured with reduced taxes.

The positive impact of this is the large amount of grants and support available to business and community projects that aim to increase the use of local recycling initiatives.

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