Memorandum by the Furniture Re-use Network
(RC 35)
WHO WE
ARE
The Furniture Re-use Network is one of the largest
co-ordinating bodies straddling the social economy and waste sectors.
It provides facilities, information and assistance to over 300
furniture and appliance re-use and recycling charities throughout
the UK. These charities collect and refurbish furniture, appliances
and other household items, and then provide them to people who
are in need. Many of these charities also collect and refurbish
items from the bulky household waste stream, either from Household
Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) or bulky waste collections. The
relevance of our response to this enquiry therefore is to these
limited but none-the-less notable services. Our development staff
are heavily involved in facilitating the outsourcing bulky waste
collection services in particular to the charitable re-use sector.
We would like to make the following comments
about local authority bulky waste services:
COLLECTION METHODS
Householders are most often instructed to leave
items outside, at which point they become quickly weather-damaged.
Waiting times for a collection vary from between one week and
one month, so items can be outside for this length of time. Bulky
waste collections are then either made using refuse-collection
vehicles (RCV) in which items are crushed, or open-backed caged
vehicles with no weather protection, strapping or padding to protect
items during transit. The crews most often handle items without
due care and throw items into the vehicles, thereby irreparably
damaging them. These conditions ensure that a minimal number of
items collected can be re-used, and even prohibits recycling in
the case of an RCV.
Suggestion
In order to address this waste of resources,
we would like to see Councils encouraged to:
— collect bulky items from inside properties
(if council's cannot insure their crew for this, then it can be
done by outsourcing the service).
— minimise waiting times, by putting
on extra resources for a short time to clear the backlog.
— collect bulky items in enclosed vehicles,
with adequate strapping and sheeting.
— train their staff, or contracted
staff, on identifying items for re-use and recycling and careful
handling to protect the value of these items.
It has been demonstrated that by setting up
the system as described above, rates of between 33% (Bulky Bobs
in Liverpool) and 65% (Furniture Matters in Lancaster) re-use
and recycling from the bulky waste stream are possible. Bulky
waste amounts to between 0.5% and 10% of the household waste stream
in WCAs.
PLANNING FOR
FUTURE SORTING,
COLLECTION AND
DISPOSAL FACILITIES
Currently, almost every local authority we have
contact with plans a bulky waste collection service on a predominately
financial basis. However very few local authorities know the actual
cost of their service as its real cost is often hidden inside
an integrated contract if outsourced, or unaccounted if done in-house.
Furthermore, there are two elements to the service, the call centre
function and the collections function, and often the call centre
costs are not available.
Local authorities waste departments' main incentive
to increase diversion from disposal through re-use and recycling
is if the new service comes in at a cost less than what they estimate
they currently pay. The current system, described above, is an
effective and efficient solution for a waste-based service. Items
left outside are quickly hand-balled into vehicles, broken or
crushed to save time. A more resource-based service would take
care and therefore more time over each collection, which often
means a higher cost. However, changing to a system as outlined
above would ensure that at any point in the future any stream
of material could be separated as markets become available, without
any subsequent change in service. The environment (and local social
benefits) or the bottom-line.
Suggestion
We suggest that waste departments work in conjunction
with social services departments to assess the actual costs and
benefits of working to re-use and recycle bulky items for local
people in need to both of their areas.
DISPOSAL FACILITIES
Disposal areas for bulky items on HWRCs are
almost exclusively skips, often with a crushing mechanism. Once
an item goes into one of these bulky skips, it cannot be recovered
in any way, either for recycling or re-use. A handful of HWRCs
have piloted containers or other storage facilities, or shops
(Warwickshire County council are leading on this initiative) on
sites for furniture and appliances suitable for re-use. These
have had varying success, due to the cooperation of the site staff.
One of the most successful is up in Moray in Scotland, where the
local charity collects 1 tonne a day from a site.
Suggestion
We would like to see all local authorities set
up re-use facilities on their public disposal sites—whether
storage facilities or re-use shops—thereby encouraging the
change from perception from a waste tip to a resource-park.
WASTE MINIMISATION
AND FINANCES
Firstly, it has been demonstrated almost without
fail that when a local authority introduces a direct charge to
the householder for their bulky waste collection service, which
it already has the power to do, the level of waste arisings falls
by between ½ to 1/3 of the previous
tonnage.
Suggestion
We would encourage all local authorities to
charge for their bulky waste collection service, especially if
this is done on a full-cost recovery basis.
Secondly, as a result of introducing charges
re-use charities end up collecting much of these items which would
previously been designated as waste. This is effective therefore
as a means of waste prevention and diversion into the re-use stream.
However, in terms of finances the local authority saves money
on its bulky waste collection service as up to a half of the service
is effectively outsourced, but the charitable re-use sector receives
no financial backing for picking up this service. The charitable
re-use sector is struggling to survive and organisations are closing
each month due to lack of funding. The situation is unsustainable
and getting worse due to such irresponsible measures.
Suggestion
Local authorities have the power to issue collection
credits (through the April 2007 Recycling Credit amendment), and
we would like local authorities contributing to the costs of these
charities in this way, especially upon introducing direct charges.
Plus, with the drive towards the third sector taking on more public
services, we would also like to see them contract charitable re-use
organisations, at a fair price, to undertake, at minimum a re-use
only service, at maximum the whole bulky waste service, to form
more integrated cross-sector services and ensure any available
materials in this stream are diverted from the disposal route
wherever possible, both now and in the future.
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