AT THE EU Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs are debating the draft EU Circular Economy Package, which will mandate higher recycling rates and a possible ban on incinerating recyclable materials.

The EU sees a Circular Economy as an essential part of reducing the resources that we need for our lifestyles, and will be a significant contribution to reducing climate change.

This move by the EU has been widely welcomed, and the plans are still very much open for comments.

Amongst comments so far is a submission by the Local Government Association, the LGA, which describes itself as “a politically-led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice”.

All local councils are members of the LGA. You can find the “LGA EU Circular Economy position paper” by Googling.

They start well, saying that “A circular economy makes best use of waste and resources, which is a high priority for English local authorities”.

However, a little further on they describe the proposed recycling targets as “unachievable,” which is quite a change of tack.

Then we get to the root of their concerns by the utterly incredible final statement, which says: “English local authorities have committed many hundreds of millions of pounds to underpin the delivery of waste treatment infrastructure to radically reduce landfill by 2020.

"This treatment capacity will process a volume of waste that will make meeting a suggested 70 per cent recycling target unachievable.

"Unless member states’ committed investments are taken into account in target-setting, there is a risk that these expensive and long-term facilities are made redundant, leaving public authorities with large liabilities.”

Note that they say “treatment capacity” as they cannot bring themselves to say “incinerators,” which is what they are talking about.

Simplifying and paraphrasing this final statement, what we are seeing – and my jaw drops at this point – is UK local councils pleading with the EU not to bring in increased recycling because it will mean that the incinerators which they have committed us to under long and expensive contracts are at risk of being made redundant. They will be white elephants costing us, the taxpayers, hundreds of millions of pounds, unless we have sufficient waste to feed the burners!

But isn’t that exactly what we’ve been warning Gloucestershire County Council about, as they have put our necks in the same expensive noose?

As Joan Baez and others said a long time ago: “When will they ever learn?”

In peace

Chris Harmer

Green Party member Nailsworth