Household rubbish less than ten per cent of waste
Keith Parkins | 21.08.2008 15:04 | Analysis | Ecology | Education
Over ninety percent of the waste that is generated is generated by industry and business, less than ten per cent by households.
'We would like to see the VAT regime reformed so that products that have a long life-cycle, or can be easily and cheaply repaired rather than replaced, are made economically more attractive. This would be an important step in turning away from the 'throwaway' consumer culture we currently have.' -- Lord O'Neill
Published on Wednesday morning, a report from the House of Lords Science and Technology select committee has showed that domestic waste accounts for less than 10% of waste.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7570909.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7571637.stm
http://www.parliament.uk/hlscience/
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldsctech/163/163.pdf
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldsctech/163/163ii.pdf
This means that we could reduce to zero our domestic waste and it would make little difference as over 90% of waste is generated by industry and business, and even the little that does flow through households comes from supermarkets through their excess packaging.
As the House of Lords committee recommends, the focus of attention should be on business and industry not households if we are to make inroads into the amount of waste we as a society generate.
The Lords say we need design changes, that products should be designed that they last longer, are easy to disassemble and repair and recycle, that we should focus on waste reduction not recycling, that we need changes in taxation and possibly legislation to force the changes.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/nat-cap.htm
If households can be criminalised for leaving a wheelie bin lid ajar by four inches, or leaving it in the wrong place at the wrong time, is it not about time industry and business were criminalised for the amount of waste they generate?
We have to move to a zero waste strategy, where we produce zero waste, where the output of one process is the input to another, that everything that ends up at the household can easily be recycled, can be dismantled and repaired, can be broken down into its component parts at the end of its lifetime and what cannot be reused can be recycled. If a process leaves hazardous waste it is replaced by a more benign process or eliminated.
http://www.zerowaste.co.nz/
http://www.zerowaste.org/
http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/
That is not to say we do not do our bit. We too should be minimising our waste, recycling and composting. A situation not helped by local councils like the Rotten Borough of Rushmoor, where first they try fortnightly waste collection, then halving the size of the wheelie bins, when what they should be focusing on is recycling, home composting and waste reduction not cutting services in the name of recycling and waste reduction.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7570638.stm
http://cllrclifford.blogspot.com/2008/08/statement-to-sunday-telegraph.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/406432.html?c=on
reference and background
Anger over smaller bins, BBC South Today, 19 August 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7570638.stm
Richard Black, Call to tackle UK business waste, BBC news on-line, 19 August 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7570909.stm
Lester R Brown, Plan B 2.0, Norton, 2006
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/Contents.htm
Lester R. Brown, Throwaway economy in trouble, Earth Policy Institute, 30 November 2006
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Seg/PB2ch06_ss4.htm
David Clifford, Rushmoor's Waste Management Panel's recommendations, 10 June 2008
http://cllrclifford.blogspot.com/2008/06/rushmoors-waste-management-panels.html
David Clifford, Statement to Sunday Telegraph, 14 August 2008
http://cllrclifford.blogspot.com/2008/08/statement-to-sunday-telegraph.html
David Gibbs, If we can’t cut collection we'll halve your bin size, Daily Express, 18 August 2008
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/57315/If-we-can-t-cut-collection-we-ll-halve-your-bin-size
Paul Hawken, Amory B Lovins & L Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism, Earthscan, 1999
Alastair Jamieson Want weekly rubbish collections? Then you must have a smaller bin, say councils, Sunday Telegraph, 17 August 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2571143/Want-weekly-rubbish-collections-Then-you-must-have-a-smaller-bin-say-councils.html
Tom Kelly, The shrinking bins, Daily mail, 18 August 2008
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1046213/The-shrinking-bins-Blatant-councils-agree-weekly-rubbish-collections-SMALLER-bins.html
Keith Parkins, Natural Capitalism, October 2000
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/nat-cap.htm
Keith Parkins, Curitiba – Designing a sustainable city, April 2006
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/curitiba.htm
Keith Parkins, Rushmoor wheelie bin madness, Indymedia UK, 11 August 2008
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/406432.html?c=on
Tom Peterkin, The £110 fine for overfilling your bin, Telegraph, 3 August 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2493788/The-110-fine-for-overfilling-your-bin.html
Plan aims for zero waste society, BBc news on-line, 11 March 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7289322.stm
Graham Tibbetts, Smaller wheelie bins for weekly rubbish collections, Telegraph, 18 August 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2579039/Smaller-wheelie-bins-for-weekly-rubbish-collections.htm
UK 'must tackle business waste', BBC news on-line, 20 August 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7571637.stm
Ernst von Weizsåcker, Amory B Lovins and L Hunter Lovins, Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use, Earthscan, 1997
Published on Wednesday morning, a report from the House of Lords Science and Technology select committee has showed that domestic waste accounts for less than 10% of waste.
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
This means that we could reduce to zero our domestic waste and it would make little difference as over 90% of waste is generated by industry and business, and even the little that does flow through households comes from supermarkets through their excess packaging.
As the House of Lords committee recommends, the focus of attention should be on business and industry not households if we are to make inroads into the amount of waste we as a society generate.
The Lords say we need design changes, that products should be designed that they last longer, are easy to disassemble and repair and recycle, that we should focus on waste reduction not recycling, that we need changes in taxation and possibly legislation to force the changes.
![](/img/extlink.gif)
If households can be criminalised for leaving a wheelie bin lid ajar by four inches, or leaving it in the wrong place at the wrong time, is it not about time industry and business were criminalised for the amount of waste they generate?
We have to move to a zero waste strategy, where we produce zero waste, where the output of one process is the input to another, that everything that ends up at the household can easily be recycled, can be dismantled and repaired, can be broken down into its component parts at the end of its lifetime and what cannot be reused can be recycled. If a process leaves hazardous waste it is replaced by a more benign process or eliminated.
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
That is not to say we do not do our bit. We too should be minimising our waste, recycling and composting. A situation not helped by local councils like the Rotten Borough of Rushmoor, where first they try fortnightly waste collection, then halving the size of the wheelie bins, when what they should be focusing on is recycling, home composting and waste reduction not cutting services in the name of recycling and waste reduction.
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
![](/img/extlink.gif)
reference and background
Anger over smaller bins, BBC South Today, 19 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Richard Black, Call to tackle UK business waste, BBC news on-line, 19 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Lester R Brown, Plan B 2.0, Norton, 2006
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Lester R. Brown, Throwaway economy in trouble, Earth Policy Institute, 30 November 2006
![](/img/extlink.gif)
David Clifford, Rushmoor's Waste Management Panel's recommendations, 10 June 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
David Clifford, Statement to Sunday Telegraph, 14 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
David Gibbs, If we can’t cut collection we'll halve your bin size, Daily Express, 18 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Paul Hawken, Amory B Lovins & L Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism, Earthscan, 1999
Alastair Jamieson Want weekly rubbish collections? Then you must have a smaller bin, say councils, Sunday Telegraph, 17 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Tom Kelly, The shrinking bins, Daily mail, 18 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Keith Parkins, Natural Capitalism, October 2000
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Keith Parkins, Curitiba – Designing a sustainable city, April 2006
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Keith Parkins, Rushmoor wheelie bin madness, Indymedia UK, 11 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Tom Peterkin, The £110 fine for overfilling your bin, Telegraph, 3 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Plan aims for zero waste society, BBc news on-line, 11 March 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Graham Tibbetts, Smaller wheelie bins for weekly rubbish collections, Telegraph, 18 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
UK 'must tackle business waste', BBC news on-line, 20 August 2008
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Ernst von Weizsåcker, Amory B Lovins and L Hunter Lovins, Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use, Earthscan, 1997
Keith Parkins
Homepage:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/
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