Progressive change is not far away – LARAC Wales conference 2023

Local Partnerships’ Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy team recently attended the annual Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC 2023) Wales Conference in Cardiff, and for me as a first-time guest it was particularly exciting (especially getting to use the famous red and green thumbs)!  

Working in recycling, waste and the circular economy

The LARAC Wales conference brings together all the Welsh local authority and key partners working in recycling, waste and the circular economy, and allows them to take an in depth look at the critical issues around running an efficient and effective local authority waste and recycling service in Wales. As a team working closely with national and local government across Wales, it was an excellent opportunity to hear more about the challenges and opportunities for local authorities, as well as meet new people and put faces to names.

Challenges of governance

The conference kicked off with an excellent keynote speech by Dr Andy Rees OBE. On behalf of Welsh Government, he gave a comprehensive update on the policy changes coming into force in Wales across the next five years. This was followed by an overview of a recent local authority waste composition study, hosted by WRAP, and the challenges of governance in leading an effective transition towards a circular economy from the WLGA.

Strategic insights

Kristy Spindler, Local Partnerships’ Senior Director for Climate, opened up the second session on strategic insights and lessons learned, building on the policy overview provided by Welsh Government. Kristy ran through the policy landscape and how Local Partnerships has been working closely with national and local government on navigating the changes, and preparing for what could be quite challenging times. This included changes to how businesses will be obligated to recycle workplace derived waste, the implementation of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and extended producer responsibility on packaging, transitioning to low emission recycling vehicle fleets, as well as infrastructure updates to support a transition to a more circular economy. 

Wales’ commitments to becoming a net zero nation

All the speakers gave delegates a fabulous starting point for thinking about how their local authority and partners can start preparing for the ambitious programme Welsh Government has started to implement, and more widely how this can align with Wales’ commitments to becoming a net zero nation, and addressing the climate emergency. Personally, it really made me think about how privileged I am to be part of a team helping to tackling this huge transition, and how I can best provide support for those who have to address these issues alongside delivering frontline services. It’s an enormous challenge we face collectively, but the resounding positivity from all attendees gave me hope that progressive change is not far away.