Waste Management Sector AWR Impact

Impact of the Agency Workers Regulations on the Waste Management sector

The Waste Management sector has been very sporadic in terms of temporary agency usage. This relates to the industry’s need for investment, as it remains a sector that has potential for growth opportunities. The EAEM Association quoted “Investing £1 billion in waste infrastructure like recycling and waste-to-energy plants could create four times more jobs and save more carbon emissions”.

The ESA also stated “with the economy stumbling and having just adopted very tough carbon budgets, the government is missing a trick if it does not act to realise the potential of the waste management sector.” If there was more public sector investment into this industry, this could have huge benefits for the economy in terms of creating more job opportunities and even help with environmental sustainability.

The waste industry will be significantly influenced by the Agency Workers Regulations due to the levels of temporary agency labour they rely on.

The average number weeks worked was far beyond the 12-week qualifying period, with some assignments lasting for years. The variety of locations candidates work at is very high, which would make them very difficult to track due to the diluted amount of sites they have worked at. Making this even more complicated is the fact that often temporary agency workerrs are provided by a plethora of recruitment agencies.