The draft plan is out for consultation until March 23 and will then go to the WRAP board at the end of the month for publication before Easter.
The draft plan has been drawn up following consultation on a range of specific issues and contains several changes to what was proposed originally although the bulk of the plan is relatively unchanged.
Chief executive Jennie Price said: “During that process, a wide variety of views has been expressed, but a broad consensus, including the WRAP Board and our main funding Departments, is now emerging around the proposals in the enclosed document.”
WRAP, explains the draft, has been set up to help deliver the targets for the reduction of waste and for increased recycling and re-use contained in the UK waste strategies. “Our vision is to bring about a step change, not only in attitudes but also in the reality of waste minimisation and recycling. We want waste and recycling to be on the agenda of every board of directors of every business in the country.”
WRAP will undertake seven programmes: four on specific material streams (paper, glass, plastics and wood) and three on generic areas where action is necessary to boost recycling (commercial instruments, procurement, and standards and specifications).
The four material streams on which WRAP proposes to work have been chosen to maximise the potential for tonnage gains (in paper and glass) and to develop markets where current recycling levels are low, but there appears to be the potential for a significant increase (plastics and wood).
Other materials will receive support through some of the work in the generic programmes, notably organics in the programme on Standards and Specifications, where a major project is planned.
Paper
WRAP gives three priorities for the paper sector including stimulating a significant increase in newsprint reprocessing capacity, an analysis of fibre requirements across the paper industry and a look at how feasible it would be to introduce price stabilisation mechanisms to the UK.
In a departure from its original plans, WRAP also say it will look at developing greater take-up of recovered material in the graphics, printings and writings sector. It says that the magazine sector is felt to have the greatest potential, although extra use will also be sought in the office paper market.
Glass
WRAP has dropped any mention of dealing with a surplus green cullet, presumably because the glut has disappeared as more material is sought and some cullet is diverted into roadbuilding.
But it still plans to look at other ways to use recovered glass and introduce standards. And it suggests a 35% recycling target for municipal waste glass be the end of 2003-4. To achieve this it puts forward a target of bottle banks at 1:1,000 people.
Continued on page 2
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