Recycling & Waste Survey

This morning my household received a ‘Recycling & Waste Survey’ from Croydon Conservatives Tony Harris, Clare Hilley and Simon Hoar. It is not so much a survey, more a list of biased and leading questions designed to fulfil their statutory responsibilities and provide some convenient statistics for use later on. 

My answers don’t seem to fit in the ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Don’t Know’ tick boxes...

Have you noticed an improvement in our recycling facilities since 2006?
Not much until about a year ago and still not as much as some other councils.

Do you agree with your ward councillors, Simon, Tony and Clare, that continuing to increase the amount we can recycle is a priority?
Increasing the amount we can recycle is a priority. Perhaps Simon, Tony or Clare could tell me how building an ERF will improve recycling technology or increase the amount of waste that is recycled?

Do you agree with Croydon Conservatives that we cannot keep sending mountains of waste to landfill?
Croydon Conservatives should be looking at ways of implementing a zero waste strategy. This means - ‘designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.’

If we can be satisfied that the ERF proposal is safe, do you think it is right that we should take responsibility locally for the waste we produce, rather than fobbing it off on someone else?
Waste will be brought in from other areas to keep the ERF running, so the question would be better phrased as ‘should we let other people fob their rubbish off onto us?’

Do you think the information you have seen to date has enabled you to come to an informed decision about whether an ERF is right for Croydon?
Yes, I have done my own independent research into the issues involved and have reached the informed decision that building this ERF would be a very bad idea for many reasons. How much independent research have Simon, Tony and Clare done?

Have you been alarmed by the scaremongering tactics of some local parties?
Emotive use of the word scaremongering - perhaps Simon, Tony and Clare can’t think of any good counter-arguments to those ‘scaremongering tactics’?

Is any means of using heat to break down our rubbish unacceptable, as far as you are concerned, or does it depend whether the proposed method is safe or not?
Lets be clear, heat will be used to break down the rubbish by incinerating it. Why are Simon, Tony and Clare so frightened of that word? They could use the word ‘burning’ instead, if that helps. We should not be sending precious resources up in smoke.
Most people would find any proposed method unacceptable if they knew it was unsafe. Personally, I would also need independent evidence that the proposed method really was safe, not just the sales pitch from the people who are going to gain from providing that method.

Is there another way you think our residual waste that is not recyclable should be disposed of instead of going to a local ERF?
More of our waste could be recycled right now but it is not economically viable. As resources become more scarce and more difficult to access the balance will change and the financial incentive will be there to recycle those materials. We also need to invest in new technologies to recover more resources from waste. Anaerobic digestion could be considered as a local alternative to an ERF.

What other ways could we help you to recycle more?
All recycling going into one wheelie bin and collected weekly would help avoid confusion.
Other items that could be collected include batteries, plastic bags and black bin bags, tetrapaks, CD, DVDs and plastic cases, bubble wrap, crisp packets and plastic film.
A mattress collection service.
Local collection days - residents put out their unwanted furniture and household items on a specific day. Neighbours take the items they can use and the council removes the rest. 

Near the end of the letter from Simon, Tony and Clare they say -
‘Croydon Conservatives have always been opposed to having an old fashioned incinerator that leaks contaminants into the atmosphere. However an ERF is not an old fashioned incinerator - it operates as a closed system where waste is broken down and produces power.’
Croydon Conservatives should be aware that combustion gases will actually be released into the atmosphere through a structure known as a chimney!