At 63 years of age it is much more difficult to get excited about life – ask any 63 year old. But excited I am.
Author Information: Mal Williams is the CEO of Cylch – Wales Community Recycling Network. He wrote Cleanstream- Total Resource Recovery Systems for Wales in 1998-1999 as a basis for the Community Recycling Sector's strategy in Wales. He is passionate about the social economy's role in community economic regeneration around re-use and recycling.Mal Williams
After over twenty years of banging the drum about recycling, the urgent need for it and generally the lack of any progress in the UK, I am now in awe and admiration of a politician whose passion and commitment shines through in her determination to show real leadership in Wales in making change happen, and happen fast.
The speed and straightforwardness of the line that Jane Davidson AM, Wales's minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, is taking in Wales is inspiring and is having a real impact on all those involved in resource management in Wales. (She has renamed waste management)
I am not the type to be a fan – or so I thought – not for me vicarious living. I cringed at the sycophancy of the concept in the past (with the exception of the Beatles, Van Morrison, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin of course – but then they are different) – but a fan I've become.
Wales's relatively new Environment minister has been visiting just about every Cylch member company it seems, opening new facilities here, praising progress there. A whirlwind of visits and personal appearances to register her very enthusiastic support for the efforts of ordinary people who are very often doing extra-ordinary things on very limited resources.
This is the kind of leadership that stirs people – makes the impossible possible. Jane's knowledge of the subjects in her exciting, challenging portfolio is evident in all that she says in the various speeches she is called upon to make at these company visits and at conferences and seminars run by various organisations including my own. At Cylch 2007 she not only made the keynote address but returned in the evening to present our achievement awards, a duty she has committed to again this year at Cylch 2008. (Marriott Hotel Cardiff 21st/22nd October – don't miss it)
During the last ten years I have sat in countless rooms across the UK where everyone moans about the lack of leadership or commitment shown by any government to tackle the big issues of environmental degradation and our profligate carelessness in using scarce resources on this planet. Business as usual has been the “system default” setting (please pardon the microsoftism).
Within months of taking up her post Jane has set 70% recycling and composting targets, defended that decision to the hilt against a hail of opposition, inspired Scotland to do the same – indeed to attempt to trump that forward move with a Zero Waste think-tank (brilliant) backed by £150million of determination and resources – and shown Joan Ruddock, her counterpart in Westminster to be a very pale comparison, disappointing many of her CND admirers by acceding to a mere 50% target in England. Big business as usual.
The 70% recycling and composting target changes the mathematics of recycling, With more being recovered and sold than wasted we can aspire to a cost-reducing resource collection system as against a cost-increasing waste treatment and disposal system. Huge savings for the tax payer as against huge profits for waste companies.
So – at last a real target that sets real challenges to achieve real change, not a mere cosmetic “re-arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic” operation that was going on before.
As has been demonstrated elsewhere 70% is easily achievable given the correct investment decisions, ones that focus on quality of material recovery outcomes rather than speed of destruction ones. The latter are the manifestation of the mistakes we've been making to get us where we are – on the brink of a global catastrophe.
This is not an issue like adjusting the rate of house price increases – this is an issue of survival no less. The planet is not under any threat at all, it'll shrug us off without a blush or murmur. It is our survival on the planet that's at stake here so I'm for really ambitious targets, ones that will definitely do the job.
The next few years will determine our fate – we can't afford to get this wrong.
Whilst I'm at it – with Wales having won the Rugby Union six nations grand slam and half an hour before Cardiff City kick off against Barnsley (Welsh manager from Swansea) in the Semi-Final of the FA cup (81 years since we last won the FA cup – that magic 9 squared years ago). Maybe its high time England took note of Wales more seriously.
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