I read with interest the comment on CIWM's website from Kristian Dales of FCC entitled "Should the industry refuse a standard for RDF?". While I agree that too much Government intervention should be avoided, I believe that the introduction of a Government standard for RDF is essential and will lead to greater market consistency. In its response to a Call for Evidence on the RDF market, Defra stated that it wants to be confident that "all practicably recyclable materials are removed" before exporting RDF for energy recovery. Unfortunately, this simply isn't the case at present. A significant proportion of material exported is being classified as RDF before being treated and therefore being needlessly removed from the recovery/reuse cycle in the UK As an industry, we need to shift the focus on to recovery of the material for recycling, rather than simply opting to export it. This argument stands up from both an environmental and financial perspective.
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