I am really disappointed that the instrument has been brought to the committee. It effectively moves back the ban on biodegradable municipal waste five years, to 2025.
I will not oppose the instrument. I consider that the position that the Government is in was avoidable, but we do not have the infrastructure in place at the local authority level or in the private sector to deal with the waste, so not pushing back the ban would lead only to waste being shipped to England and a loss in landfill tax revenue.
There are massive questions about why we have got to this point, particularly given that we are in a climate emergency and we must make every effort that we can to reduce emissions, including in the waste sector. Pushing back the ban five years is unacceptable.
Last year, when the Government announced the ban, the waste industry said that the Government had no long-term infrastructure investment plan for dealing with biodegradable waste. There has been a failure on the part of Government to lead on the issue and ensure that we have the infrastructure, and we are now in a difficult position in which the infrastructure simply is not in place to deal with the waste.
I want to know what will change in the next five years. We have a new recycling target in 2025 to aim for. In many ways, the work on wider recycling and dealing with biodegradable waste could be brought together, and we could see real progress, but that will not happen by accident. If the Government fails to lead and ensure that the right infrastructure is in place, we will be in the same position in five years’ time, trying to implement a ban on biodegradable waste. We will not be able to achieve the ban because there simply will not be the kit to treat the waste in the first place.
We will not meet the target by accident. I am anxious to find out what the Government’s plans are to ensure that we take food and garden waste out of our rubbish streams and deal with it in a way that cuts emissions and reduces landfill.