Packaging waste collection: Far from rubbish!

The separate collection of packaging waste from households is far from rubbish or a joke as was implied in yesterday's editorial (It's Not Rubbish At All). On the other hand I think the commentary in the editorial is rather presumptions and facetious as the arguments being put forward on the proposed scheme that the constituted bodies are setting up, are very shallow and not well researched.

First of all, I would like to point out that it has taken the government, represented by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, the Local Council Association and the constituted bodies eight months to devise such a system. I can also assure readers that each party worked very hard to create a system which is workable and suits everybody's needs. This is no joke.

I would also like too point out that the government was on schedule and all commitments to the task force were honoured on time, by April 1, 2008. It was upon a recommendation by the constituted bodies and the local councils association that the government conceded to postpone the start date. The editorial makes no reference to this.

The editorial is also full of contradictions. It comments that the proposed scheme is non-inclusive and important stakeholders have been left out. On the other hand the editor suggests that it may have been more appropriate to leave local councils out of the equation as problems start when too many entities get involved. This is definitely not the way to design an all inclusive packaging recovery scheme.

For such a scheme to work we have to rely on the consumer whose packaging has to be recovered. We also need to rely on the local council whose responsibility it is to collect this waste. Another important link is the collector who will be required to transport the material without contaminating it in the process. Then we have to rely on the regulator to ensure that all producers and importers are contributing to the overall national targets. Finally, we have to rely on WasteServ to ensure that materials recovered will be recycled for the benefit of the environment.

The editor feels that a contract between the producer and the collector would have solved all this!

The editorial refers to traffic issues at Sant' Antnin and then recommends that packaging types should be collected in different bags. Wouldn't this incur more traffic on our roads, may I ask? In respect to shrink wrap and pallets, I have hardly come across any pallets in domestic packaging waste. And should that be the case bulky packaging can be deposited for free at the civic amenity sites.

Regarding the collection of glass, one must remember that the new scheme complements the bring-in sites. Also glass might contaminate the other recyclable material when it fragments with the result that it will not be sold for recycling. Households will continue to be encouraged to use bring-in sites, so much so that the increased number of bring-in sites in all localities is part of the agreement being finalised with local councils. However, for those families that have difficulties using bring-in sites, an alternative setup is being launched.

If a thorough education campaign is what the editorial recommends, it can do better to lend a hand.