Kent Waste Partnership annual meeting Speech Liz Goodwin, CEO WRAP Where WRAP is heading and which partnerships will deliver results? It s a pleasure for me to be to be with you today, and in the shadow of such a beautiful cathedral. It is quite humbling to think of how many hundreds of years this has been a place of worship and of pilgrimage for people from around the world. Of course, neither WRAP nor indeed the Kent Waste Partnership or perhaps I should say, Kent Resource Partnership have been in existence for quite so long! However, I d like to think that both organisations have an important role to play in the more material realm. helping to reduce waste, use resources more efficiently and make a positive contribution to the economy. It was back in late 2007 that WRAP launched the extremely successful Love Food Hate Waste campaign to help consumers reduce food waste. I m delighted to note that Kent Resource Partnership was one of our key launch partners and continues to be active in helping to tackle the issue of food waste today. In fact, the partnership was one of the members of the steering group, along with WRAP, which launched Fresher for Longer earlier this year. This is an initiative that aims to help consumers store food correctly, making the most of the packaging their food comes in to keep it at its best. We worked closely, not only with Kent Resource Partnership but also with Marks & Spencer, INCPEN, the Packaging Federation, the Food and Drink Federation, and the British Retail Consortium in this project. And we look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with KRP, together taking on more opportunities to break new ground. Working with others to achieve shared goals is core to the way WRAP works and I believe Fresher for Longer provides good evidence of the benefits to be had from working in partnership. Here is a perfect of example of how business, industry and local authorities can set aside commercial or political sensitivities, and work towards a common goal. I believe that partnerships can provide a good foundation from which to work but we need to be clear on exactly what we mean by the P word. It is much misused, and can mean different things to different people. In the WRAP context, partnership is all about a working relationship, where the players agree to work together toward some set of shared objectives. It doesn t mean you necessarily agree on
everything, but what it does mean is seeking the common ground, and being prepared to agree a way forward for the common good. Most critical is that any partnership, to be successful, needs to be based on trust, accountability and transparency. I m very proud of what the voluntary agreements, which WRAP has brokered in recent years, have already delivered. These agreements, or responsibility deals as they are sometimes called, work really well, provided they are based on evidence and are appropriately structured and implemented. We believe this is because they give signatories the flexibility to develop environmentally-sound solutions which work for their business and their customers. At the same time, the agreements deliver change within the framework of a collective ambition that enables suppliers and contractors to identify and adopt solutions. The Courtauld Commitment is a good example of this in action. This brings together players from 88% of the UK s supermarkets as well as key food and drink manufacturers. Together, the signatories have stemmed the growth of packaging and food waste and are on track to deliver great results against the current targets. So successful has the approach been that we were able, just last month, to launch a third phase of the commitment, which targets a further 1.1 million tonne waste reduction. What this does show is that when industry and business get together to share knowledge and ideas in this way, and see positive results from their efforts, this in turn acts as a catalyst for further initiatives. It demonstrates great commitment on the part of all the signatories, showing that they understand and appreciate the benefits of a longer-term relationship. Other voluntary commitments that WRAP has created and which continue to deliver results include a range of industries. from the DIY and construction sector, through to the hospitality and food service sector. The hospitality and food service sector is relatively new to us: launched just year, but we already have more than 100 signatories, representing almost a fifth of the sector, and we re confident that together, we can make a real impact in reducing food and packaging waste. It s important to recognise that voluntary agreements can t always provide the answer to problems. Sometimes, the regulatory approach will be required for example, where public health or safety is at risk of being compromised. I know we have a number of representatives from the Kent Resource Partnership here in our audience today, and clearly, you share commons goals when it comes delivering a cohesive, robust and effective waste management strategy, where waste is seen as a resource.
Given the current challenging economic climate where pressures on resources are even more acute, finding ways of working together and pooling resources makes sound sense as you have no doubt found. Another potentially good example of this, and from the public sector, is SE7. A consortium of seven councils, SE7 was set up to facilitate the purchase of shared services, and comprises authorities from the south-east of England. With a combined annual budget of 3.4 billion, SE7 believes it can cut costs by establishing shared services such as information technology, special education facilities and waste management potentially saving millions of pounds. There are also some good examples of other cross-council partnerships such as the East and Mid Kent Projects. It would be good to see this kind of collaborative approach used more widely in other parts of the UK. I also believe that KRP's work on public consultations - such as the Defra MRF Code of Practice and, dare I say it, the Defra review of WRAP funding, and how it co-ordinates responses to these on behalf of all 13 councils, is further demonstration of the benefits of collaboration. These examples all serve to demonstrate what can be achieved where there s a collective willingness to share and work together not just in the short term, but in the longer term, too. I mentioned the MRF Code of Practice just now, and I know that quality is one of the issues very much on your mind. Steve has already spoken eloquently about the challenges of getting the most from secondary materials and the important role that the issue of quality has to play here. Clearly, producing good quality recyclate is critical if we are to sustain the growth of the whole recycling supply chain, and make sure this success story continues. Quality underpins the collections, infrastructure, and markets upon which our recycling supply chain is based. That s why I, and many others, believe the consultation on material quality, which closed just a few weeks ago, marks an important milestone for the sector. This isn t just an issue for those of us here today: quality is also priority for all of our funders. Last year, for example, we saw the Scottish Government launch its own consultation on a Recyclate Quality Action Plan. This sets out a number of actions they would like to introduce in order to drive up the quality of materials coming out of materials recycling facilities in Scotland. The industry has made great strides in improving quality, and some MRFs are producing excellent quality recyclate. But it s in all of our interests to make sure that we re extracting the maximum possible value out of our recyclate across the board, in order to compete effectively in both domestic and overseas markets. Higher quality materials will also attract higher, more stable prices. Of course, it s not just MRFs who bear the responsibility of producing quality recyclate. This starts in the home, and communication with residents about what they can and can t recycle is very
important which is why we have a range of free communications materials that can help local authorities deliver these messages. Material which I m sure, all of you in the KRP, have accessed, and use regularly! I m conscious that the title of my address today includes not only partnerships, but the question: where is WRAP heading. So let me move on to say a little about the rest of 2013 and beyond, and what the future may hold. I ve already made passing reference to the fact that DEFRA are currently reviewing their funding of WRAP and the work we do for them ( note - it s not a review of WRAP by DEFRA ) We receive a significant amount of funding from Defra each year and it is entirely right that they review how our work helps them deliver their objectives As you would expect, we ve been working closely with Defra to ensure they have all the information they need. We have a strong track record of delivering value for money for all our funders, and we have taken the opportunity to demonstrate this as a part of the review process. And of course, we know that the Government Spending Review announcement is imminent, the results of which will also influence the shape of WRAP in the future. Naturally the outcome of the review is important to us and we value our work for Defra. But actually, our focus has been more on building the future of which Defra is just a part. It is important to note that we receive funding from all the UK governments in fact, the Scottish Government is our biggest single funder. This means we re also delivering ambitious programmes for the Scottish and Welsh Governments, as well as for Defra, and we anticipate a busy 2013 for WRAP. In addition, we are working hard to develop other opportunities we have an increasingly global reputation which we can build on. So what do we see in store? The continuing fragile state of the economy. the challenge of stimulating growth. all are issues that will continue to be top of the agenda for UK plc. They are also issues of critical importance to us at WRAP, as our goal is to see resources used as efficiently as possible in a way which helps both the economy and the environment. We have long regarded the circular economy, or closed loop model, as a route to achieving these goals and we will continue to focus on activities that will help deliver this. We ve seen the benefits the closed loop approach can bring, for example, in the plastics sector, where WRAP was instrumental in creating an environment in which technology, funding and guidance now exists to help in the collection and recycling of bottles and other kinds of plastic. We are continuing to explore technologies for other hard-to-recycle plastics, and administer funding to help stimulate innovation and technological solutions.
We ve taken a similar approach in the area of household food waste in 2006/07 our research showed that we were throwing away 8.3m tonnes of food. By 2010 that figure had fallen to 7.2m tonnes, this is a huge achievement by the British public and the work of WRAP and its many partners. We estimate that the value of the food associated with this reduction is 2.5bn a year, which, in turn, translates into savings for local authorities in reduced landfill tax bills. There is, however, clearly more to do, and that s why we ve broadened our focus to include the hospitality and food service sector, which I mentioned earlier. The challenge of delivering resource efficiency and delivering sustainable change is that there are many potential opportunities. We are therefore focusing on those areas which will yield the biggest impacts, across whole supply chains, particularly in the areas of food waste, the built environment, electricals and textiles. The electricals and electronics supply chain is a prime example. Our research shows that strategies which extend the life of goods or reduce consumption have the greatest impact. We don t have all the answers but there are opportunities here to influence all stages of the supply chain, from encouraging the designing out of waste at the start of a product s life, through to encouraging consumer repair and re-use. And when product has reached the end of its useful life, what then? We re running trials to test whether technology can successfully help us extract the often rare materials used in their manufacture, and whether this business model not only works, but is a sustainable, economically viable option. I truly believe WRAP can continue to help the UK move to a more circular economy where businesses are more resilient to risks such as resource security and where we all make better use of the resources we use and consume. We will continue to work with the sectors where we can make the most difference and in support of our funder priorities, with a clear focus on cost, delivering value for money and leveraging additional sources of funding. I hope I ve given you a representative snapshot, both of the value I believe that can be delivered by the right partnerships, and of just some of the areas where WRAP will be focusing in the coming months. If you have any questions about what I ve said, or you have ideas you d like to share, then please, come and find me after this session, or get in touch with me back at the office. Thank you.