The government has opted against a national collection charge to punish householders who do not recycle rubbish.

In response to a Cabinet Office paper published last November, environment secretary Margaret Beckett said she wanted to change Britain's attitude to rubbish.

Ministers want to reduce the annual rate of household waste growth from three per cent to two per cent by the end of 2006.

Forum Response: Envirowise

Martin Gibson, Envirowise director, told ePolitix.com: "We welcome the government's very positive response to the Waste Not, Want Not report. The report focuses on household waste and the Government response makes it clear that this is an issue for which everyone has some responsibility. The linked announcements by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Plan) include clear targets for waste reduction and we also welcome this.

"The need to raise people's awareness of how they affect and can reduce waste is a key issue. This will require a long-term marketing campaign with clear aims and we look forward to seeing this develop.

"Waste Not, Want Not included a recommendation to extend the role of Envirowise to cover 20 per cent of UK companies over the next two years. In its response to the report, the government stated that it believes there remains considerable untapped potential for further environmental and financial gains.

"This is confirmed in a report released by the Environment Agency last week which shows that UK manufacturers could achieve £2 to £ 2.9 billion savings in annual operating costs using best practice waste minimisation techniques. We hope that Envirowise will have a significant role to play in the package of measures being considered by the government."

Forum Response: Biffa Waste Services

Peter Jones, director of external affairs at Biffa, told ePolitix.com: "Someone in government seems to have lost the plot if they really are proposing cuts in the council tax to encourage recycling.

"And to state that the government has acted on landfill tax is stretching credulity to the limit when Gordon Brown's timetable is unlikely to produce an economic framework for green technologies until 2011 - five years too late.

"Currently the average UK household is charged £50 annually for waste collection and disposal. Competitive tendering for major cities shows that the governments 2020 objectives can be delivered for around £80 per household per annum (without mass incineration).

"Presumably the chancellor has agreed to pump in another £200 million annually of subsidies on top of the £800 million already passing to local authorities for waste.

"It would be far better to make recycling free and then charge £80 per household per year for anything put in the black sack or in civic amenity sites destined for landfill."

Forum Response: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Nicholas Cole, waste policy officer at RICS, told ePolitix.com: "RICS welcomes both the plans to introduce a home composting scheme and incentives designed to encourage householders to recycle. However, we question whether council tax reductions represent a big enough carrot to meet the UK's national waste reduction targets.

"Unfortunately, the government's response does not go far enough in encouraging householders to recycle. In order to effectively manage the UK's rapidly growing domestic waste streams, large scale doorstep recycling schemes have to be addressed."

Forum Response: Construction Products Association

A spokeswoman for the Construction Products Association told ePolitix.com: "In its response to the Strategy Unit's report 'Waste not, want not' the government has once again shied away from committing to any firm targets or to any specific proposals to achieve sustainable waste management.

"The response does not address the concern industry is facing with the definition and interpretation of waste, on which point, among others, the Environmental Audit Committee's report "Waste - an audit" heavily criticised the government.

"However, the industry is keen to work with government in minimising waste and in increasing the reuse and recovery of waste. The association has already developed indicators that can be used by manufacturers to measure their performance on a number of key areas including waste. This will allow companies to assess their performance on, among others, the volume of waste leaving site as well as the volume of recycled/secondary materials being used in place of raw materials.

"We welcome the review by the Cabinet Office on the merits of focusing waste policy in one department, expected at the end of this year, and look forward to working with the new Sustainable Waste Management Programme that will review new technologies in dealing with difficult waste categories.

"We would urge the government to address the issue of waste, ie. what is waste and when is waste not waste, which are the main barriers being faced by industry in diverting waste from landfill and managing waste sustainably."

Forum Response: Local Government Association

Councillor Kay Twitchen, chair of the LGA's waste executive, said: "The LGA has a vital role to play in working closely with government to advise on initiatives which will assist council to meet their challenging targets to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and increase the amount which is recycled. We look forward to working with the new Task Force to help bridge the gap between national policy and local action.

"We are pleased to know what the government regards as its priorities from the Waste Strategy Review, and very much support the change of focus towards more sustainable waste management. These changes present a big challenge for local authorities, a challenge which will be met with the help of extended partnership working with industry, WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), the voluntary and community sectors.

"Inevitably costs will rise, and the LGA will be looking to the government for greater financial support for council as they improve their waste management systems to meet the new standards."

Forum Response: Chartered Institution of Waste Management

Dr Jane Beasley, head of communications at the CIWM, told ePolitix.com: "The government has finally produced its long awaited response to the Strategy Unit (SU) report 'Waste Not Want Not' and put forward a course of action towards more sustainable management of waste.

"The response is a bit of a mixed bag. Specific actions have been identified within relatively short timescales, with responsibilities and funding routes clearly stated, which makes us optimistic that much needed government support for waste issues remains ongoing. However despite a clear strategy emerging to address the recommendations from the SU report, a number of decisions have been deferred subject to further consultation.

"The response has provided clarification on the responsibilities of key stakeholders, in particular WRAP and their extended role, which now takes in the development of waste minimisation schemes, a kerbside task force, and an education and awareness programme.

"In addition a Task Force to bridge the gap between national policy and local government implementation is welcomed and the Institution looks forward making a contribution to its work where possible and looks forward to the publication of further detail on the stakeholders to be involved.

"A number of specific actions highlighted as a priority in the our original response to 'Waste Not, Want Not', have now been supported by the government, including the commissioning of DEFRA to undertake further research in response to a number of the recommendations, and the strengthening of DEFRA's waste management function, particularly with regard to the implementation of the delivery team.

"In addition, we fully support the development of a range of different initiatives focusing on waste minimisation and recycling, and in particular the joint study into the costs and benefits of deposit refund schemes.

"We were disappointed that the possibility of implementing direct and variable charging remains on hold pending further study, as there is a plethora of information already available on the use of this approach, including a research project recently completed on behalf of ourselves. It was anticipated that the government's response might have led the way towards the development of pilot trails of this approach. However, it is hoped that the study to be undertaken by DEFRA and ODPM into direct and variable charging is completed by the start of 2004, and speedier progress in terms of making the necessary legislative changes is not too far away.

"Finally, we remain in support of the development of a government-industry forum as a useful body to progress sustainable waste management and are keen to take this initiative forward with other key stakeholders at an early stage."

Forum Response: British Retail Consortium

Bill Moyes, Director General of the BRC told ePolitix.com: "The BRC firmly supports the government's desire to tackle the problem of litter and indeed many BRC members are involved in consumer awareness initiatives to educate consumers on a whole range of waste and litter issues, such as Rethink Rubbish and Bin to Win with recycle-more.co.uk.

"Retailers continue to build on national consumer awareness campaigns to challenge the public's perception of waste issues by encouraging more efficient use of natural resources. The government should ensure that these efforts are not undermined by prescriptive regulation, but encourage innovative implementation underpinned by long-term strategies."

Forum Response: Environmental Services Association

Dirk Hazell, chief executive of ESA, told ePolitix.com: "While the government's response did include a welcome timetable for action on the recommendations made by the Strategy Unit, the government has once again held back on making the crucial decisions which are essential for the UK to achieve sustainable waste management.

"Ministers quite rightly highlight waste management as one of the 'major environmental challenges facing Britain today'. But this week's response to the Strategy Unit lacks urgency and doesn't signal any ambition to rise to that challenge.

"Working in other parts of Europe ESA's members have already proved that, given the right public policy framework, high rates of resource recovery can be achieved and the Landfill Directive targets met.

"There is no reason why a similar situation should not prevail in the UK. Waste management should not be portrayed simply as an alarming challenge; it is an essential and productive activity.

"ESA's members would have welcomed a more ambitious approach, including better funding for managing the municipal waste stream, ensuring an effective regulatory framework, and creating the right environment-for instance by improving the PFI to allow ESA's members to deliver sustainable waste management."