More Government-backed measures are needed to make the general public take responsibility for the waste they produce, the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) commented today.

This followed in the wake of the comments by Lord Haskins, the government adviser on food and farming, that around one third of food grown for human consumption in the UK ends up in the rubbish bin.

CIWM chief executive, Steve Lee, comments: ‘We have done a very good job of making the public think that waste just disappears; unfortunately, this also means that they generally have very little awareness of what this process involves. With the current emphasis on recycling there is also the danger that, despite the fact that this has little relevance to the food itself, they also believe that this is the answer to most waste-related problems.

‘Of course, in considering the implications of this problem, we also have to take into account the packaging used for food products and the materials involved in making them.’

As the availability of landfill diminishes, the waste sector is working to maximise the potential of composting and energy from waste. However, this alone cannot solve the problem. Steve Lee adds: Better education is required, and we also need innovative schemes that encourage the public to change their way of thinking. For this reason, the Institution very much welcomes Defra’s recent announcement that it is going to fund pilot schemes to test the effectiveness of a range of incentives to encourage people to reduce their waste. However, we would also like consideration to be given to the direct charging of UK householders for waste collection and disposal, dependent on how much they actually produce, a practice that is currently widely used in other countries.’