WHAT have the States done? Well, firstly, they have obviously carried out the sharpest and most baffling U-turn in their history.

Last July they decided, by an overwhelming majority, to purchase a waste disposal system from the French firm Suez. Seven months later, with none of the facts one jot different, they decide to overturn that.

Secondly, they have ensured that Guernsey’s taxpayers have been landed with yet another multi-million pound bill for abortive work on a waste plant that was first agreed and then rejected. Taken with the Lurgi legacy, the cost of these changes of mind are approaching £10m. – for nothing.

Thirdly, and most crucially, after well over a decade of investigation and debate they have left Guernsey with absolutely no disposal route for its rubbish. Mont Cuet continues to fill. More than 60,000 souls continue to expect the government to deal with their waste. The best the States can offer is a blank paper and pious hopes for the future.

Of course I hope that something good can arise from this train crash in the States chamber. However, I find it hard to believe that, without indulging in the sort of extreme wishful thinking that seemed to lie behind many deputies’ vote.

We are certainly now up a creek and there are major doubts whether any paddle will come to hand.

What are the options? Of course, we all hope that there is a trend to waste minimisation and greater recycling but let’s not suspend disbelief in human nature. At best that’ll be a gradual process. Consumerism won’t be banished, Christmas won’t be cancelled, and changing long-term trends in waste arisings will be like turning a supertanker.

We can bring in universal kerbside recycling. That will be expensive and will only slightly increase the uptake if the trials are anything to go by.

We could – and should – charge per bag for waste disposal. That will focus minds but will have little impact on more affluent islanders.

We could bring in more draconian measures like collecting only one bin a fortnight or fines for putting recyclables in general rubbish. Do you really think the States are going to do that?

Then there’s the option of exporting our waste to Jersey. Tempting though that is on many levels, there are several drawbacks.

1. Will they really take it?

2. The cost.

3. The length of contract, given the need for a multi-million pound transfer station

4. The cost of our own disposal system in a few years.

5. And presumably a massive campaign by all those Guernsey people who feel it is simply wrong to incinerate our waste.

Other options include embracing one of the plethora of unproven technologies – very foolish. Or else continuing to landfill – very un-environmental.

So why have the States done the biggest about-turn in their history?

It is hard to escape the conclusion that they simply cracked under the pressure of a high-profile campaign.

Of course, some members have been against incineration throughout.

However, others appeared to do a volte face at the last minute in order not to upset an articulate lobby group.

If they’ve genuinely changed their minds after listening to that lobby then it’s a shame they didn’t do so last July.

Some deputies appeared to vote against what they really believed was in the best interest of the island, simply to placate an angry group of people. Or even to placate family members.

To some, Friday’s events will represent a high point in ‘listening democracy’.

I’m afraid I think it is a nadir of political weakness.

So what about the future of PSD minister Deputy Bernard Flouquet? Should he resign? He clearly isn’t going to, but I really think he should. Not because he has done anything wrong, like his Obama faux pas. Rather, he should go for his own dignity and allow someone who really believes in the States’ decision (whatever it means) to implement it.

I don’t think ministers should resign every time a major policy is defeated on the floor of the House. However, this was a seminal piece of work for the PSD and something that Deputy Flouquet has been at the centre of for a decade. Whatever gloss he tries to put on it, he clearly thinks the States got it wrong.

Let Deputy Scott Ogier take over, maybe with Deputy Lowe as his deputy minister, and let them deliver on the rhetoric which swayed the States.