Communities should be central to the delivery of waste services, the Local Government Association (LGA) has argued.
In an announcement today, the LGA has urged the Government to abstain from allowing household waste and recycling services to be managed by the waste packaging industry.
The LGA has expressed fears that council powers will be reduced due to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, which the organisation suggests could see the packaging industry being granted greater authority over waste services.
As part of the EPR scheme, businesses will begin to pay costs for managing packaging waste, leading to proposals from industry groups seeking to gain increased influence within the waste service sector.
However, the LGA has emphasised that local knowledge, relationships and communities should be at the forefront of waste service-related decisions.
Cllr Arooj Shah, environment spokesperson for the LGA said: ‘Councils are proud to deliver waste and recycling services that are trusted by the public and tailored to the needs of local areas. We support the ambition of the EPR reforms, but they must be built on partnership and respect for what local government delivers every day.
‘Decisions about collections and services must remain in the hands of communities, not handed over to producers whose priority will inevitably be profit. If this scheme is to succeed, it must strengthen local delivery, not sideline it.’
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