A Better Way to Recycle: cooperative and community approaches to recycling

1
A Better Way to Recycleco-operative and
community approaches to recycling

• Erik Bichard
• Chief Executive

2
Why Report on Co-operatives and Recycling?

• It featured as a potential new venture in the
  Co-operative Commission Report
• Waste is becoming harder and more expensive to
  bury or burn
• Legislation will push industry and local
  authorities to recycle
• Raw materials and fuel prices will continue to
  rise
• Society is becoming more motivated to recycle
• Procurement habits can change or be made to
  change

3
Where the Opportunity Lies

• Collecting, Sorting and Selling
• Community Recycling and Resource Recovery
  (California)
• ECT (UK)
• FRC Group (UK)

4
Where the Opportunity Lies

• Aggregation
• Kitakyushu car recycling Co-op (Japan)
• Tower Hamlets Community Recycling Consortium (UK)

5
Investment Opportunities

• Baywind showed the way
• Investment in recycling Investor/owner is both
  financer and supplier of raw material
• Lintrup Biogas Co-op (Denmark)

6
Summary of Advantages

• Economies of scale through merger or partnership
• Community support (and possibly investment)
• Faster response to market through community
  connection
• Efficiency through commitment to cause as well as
  customer care
• Affinity with (many) public sector procurers
• Surplus generated for member/community benefit

7
Role of Consumer Co-operatives

• High cost of waste disposal being paid to private
  sector companies
• Many societies still unsure of true cost of waste
• Customer affinity for high content recycled
  products can be built on the Fair Trade market
• Modest investment in conversion equipment, and
  partnerships with larger collection Co-ops and
  SEs could form powerful commercial unit and
  close the loop within the Movement

8
The Future

• Value added not by collection/segregation but by
  processing
• Japanese Consumer Co-op Union (Japan)
• Sabonso Co-operative (Japan)
• TW Hi-Core (California)
• Co-op Group (UK)
• Midlands Co-operative Society (UK)