MEMORANDUM BY STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
(DSW 101)
The Environment Sub-committee of the House of
Commons Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and Regional
Affairs has resolved to inquire into the progress which has been
made since publication in June 1998 of its Report on Sustainable
Waste Management.
The Sub-committee will wish to examine whether
the policies set out in the Government's Waste Strategy for England
and Wales (Cm 4693) are sufficient to deliver sustainable waste
management, and whether the necessary measures, including provision
of financial resources, are in place for those policies to be
implemented.
In particular, the Sub-committee will wish to
examine whether the Government's waste strategy, as it applies
to local authorities and other public and private bodies, will
result in:
— More efficient use of resources and
a consequent reduction in the amount of material entering the
waste stream;
— An increase in recycling of waste,
particularly by greater development of markets for recycled material
(including compost) and the use of producer responsibility measures;
— Increased use of incineration as
a waste disposal/recovery option-the Sub-committee would also
wish to examine what the implications of such an increase would
be;
— A reduction in the amount of waste
sent to landfill-in this context; the Sub-committee would welcome
views on the effects of the Landfill Tax and its Credit Scheme;
— A reduction in, and better management
of, hazardous waste;
— Significant example set by Government
in exercising "green" procurement policies;
— Sufficient action to educate the
public about the importance of sustainable waste management.
The following observations are made in respect
of the issues raised:
More efficient use of resources and a consequent
reduction in the amount of material entering the waste stream
The present division of waste collection and
waste disposal authorities does not lend itself to the maximisation
of the potential economies that are available. The preparation
of IWMS provides the framework for developing the potential effectiveness
but relies on co-operation between the WCA and WDA and as a last
resort the WDA dictating the materials that the collection authorities
collect. Where there are two-tiered arrangements, there are significant
additional collection costs associated with separate collections
of recyclables and organic wastes and in the first instance the
cost of meeting Government targets appears to fall on the collection
authorities, although this will depend on the level of recycling
achieved by the collection authorities. Increased costs will also
fall to disposal authorities as additional treatment facilities
will become necessary. This may not lead to a reduction in the
quantities of waste being produced, merely a diversion from landfill
to recycling or recovery. As the targets become more rigorous
there will be significant increased costs for the disposal authorities,
particularly in areas where the landfill costs are low.
An increase in recycling of waste, particularly
by greater development of markets for recycled material (including
compost) and the use of producer responsibility measures
The new targets will be expensive to achieve
but will result in additional recycling activities although the
targets are onerous and will become increasingly expensive to
achieve especially in rural areas.
It will not be possible to meet the targets
for reducing BMW to landfill without the use of Energy from Waste
plants. This will recover value from waste which is missed at
source or for which the optimum Life Cycle Analysis requires the
product to be cleaned before recovery eg tins or paper contaminated
with food. In order to compliment the initiative to reduce the
use of primary aggregate, the use of bottom ash from Energy from
Waste plants should count towards the recycling and/or recovery
of value targets.
The incentive to recycle and recover value from
waste is inextricably linked to secure and financially attractive
markets for the recyclate. The reliance on recycling credits creates
a false market and does not help the industry to become self sufficient
and credible in the medium to long term in the eyes of the public.
It the recyclate market is to be pump-primed
demand should be stimulated by tax credits or another incentive
to use recyclate not a subsidy for producing recyclate. This would
avoid a stockpile of unwanted material and would get the consumer
accustomed to purchasing goods made from recycled materials and
components because manufacturers found it commercially attractive
to make products using recyclate.
The introduction of organic collections may
have the effect of diverting these materials from home composting
and into the waste stream. The additional facilities at civic
amenity sites or separate collections encourage people to think
that the authorities want their wastes and people may be more
likely to use the schemes rather than home composting. Easier
to use facilities do nothing to encourage waste reduction.
The development of a market for composted green
waste is important. There must be a quality assured standard for
the products if this is to be achieved and major retailers persuaded
to sell and promote the product. There is no common standard for
"substitute peat", "soil improver" or "mulch".
There is an argument that the quality of materials will decrease
as the quantities increase and standards for various qualities
may be necessary.
The results of the trials on farm composting
of supermarket waste that are currently being conducted should
be widely disseminated. Clearly there will need to be rigorous
quality control measures after the dangers arising from the use
of animal by-products leading to BSE and the more recent swine
fever outbreak.
Increased use of incineration as a waste disposal/recovery
option—the Sub-committee would also wish to examine what
the implications of such an increase would be;
The use of incineration with energy recovery
will be essential if the targets to reduce BMW going to landfill
are to be met. The technology is well proven and costs are not
excessive compared to landfill especially with the scheduled and
fill tax increases. The recent changes in rateable values for
such plants has not been helpful in achieving new facilities.
Techniques using low temperature incineration are being developed
which allows recovery of glass bottles and tins in a clean form.
This is a much more sustainable method of disposal as it maximises
energy recovery without reducing the proportion of material which
can be recovered and recycled. In terms of Life Cycle Analysis
it is by far the most efficient technique as it does not waste
energy in the cleaning of the recyclate.
The discharge to air from incineration plants
is tightly regulated by IPPC throughout the EA. The amount of
pollutants and dioxins discharged from MSW incineration is much
less than discharges from power generation and industrial processes.
And additional energy recovery capacity producing electricity
would improve emissions overall.
The use of bottom ash as a secondary aggregate
can reduce the cost of incineration. By developing a market for
the product and having a local source of material savings in landfill
tax and transport costs can be achieved. The productive use of
the bottom ash will also avoid landfill charges thus minimising
cost to the Council Tax payer and making airspace available for
waste for which there is no alternative to landfill reducing the
need to create any new landfills. It also promotes secondary aggregates
from bottom ash thus meeting another government target to reduce
the use of primary aggregate and reducing the need for mineral
extraction.
A reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill—in
this context; the Sub-committee would welcome views on the effects
of the Landfill Tax and its Credit Scheme
The landfill tax has diverted significant quantities
of inert waste from licensed landfill sites to exempt sites and
increased the reprocessing of construction and demolition waste
at the point of origin. The practice of recycling construction
and demolition waste on the sites on which it arises is a positive
move to reduce the amount of inert waste going to landfill.
It is too early to assess the impact of the
exemption for restoration materials which has been introduced
to try to address some of the difficulties that arose in restoring
despoiled sites. There has however been a serious problem with
a shortage of inert materials to restore sand and gravel sites
in river terrace locations particularly where the land was grade
2 and 3a in the Ministry of Agriculture classification.
It has not been possible to assess the impact
of the non-inert tax on practices in the non-domestic sector.
The Landfill Tax was associated with the polluter pays principle.
Unfortunately for household waste there is no discernible link
between the tax and members of the public. The change in council
tax is not sufficient to encourage the public to change their
ways and the additional cost is not a significant disincentive
to produce waste.
The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme has been effective
in diverting money to community projects but the amount of money
being used to aid research and develop new practices in the waste
disposal has been disappointing. The use of this Fund to "pump
prime" local recycling schemes and to encourage more innovation
and publicity would be a beneficial use of the money which the
industry generates. Consideration should be given to a diversion
of Landfill Tax to local authorities to fund the achievement of
recycling and recovery targets.
A reduction in, and better management of, hazardous
waste
The changes in municipal waste management have
led to some hazardous materials being subject to separate collection
and disposal. The Strategy will increase this movement towards
a concentration of hazardous materials rather than their inclusion
within the general waste stream. The implementation of the European
Directive banning the co-disposal of wastes will have the effect
of reducing the problems and potential risks associated with the
landfilling of hazardous wastes alongside other wastes but will
lead to their destruction via specialised treatment facilities
and increased transport. Producer responsibility for these materials
should be considered to encourage the sale of less hazardous materials.
Early decisions will need to be made as to which
sites (or parts of sites) will be licensed and managed to accept
hazardous waste. There will also need to be a significant investment
in plant to treat the waste if the anticipated high cost of landfilling
hazardous waste is to be minimised.
Significant example set by Government in exercising
"green" procurement policies;
There has been no discernible increase in "green"
procurement policies by central government. A number of local
authorities use recycled paper and publicise the fact on each
sheet. There needs to be some greater demonstration of commitment
to green procurement processes that will deliver a significant
increase in the demand for recyclate and compost. The use of the
Internet to circulate information has increased awareness in government
activity but the printing of hard copies of press releases etc
has probably not, at a national scale, reduced paper consumption.
It has transferred the cost and use of paper from central government
to the user.
Sufficient action to educate the public about
the importance of sustainable waste management.
Education is a key area in attempting to change
public opinion to increase recycling reuse and reduction. Campaigns
are expensive and will require continuity over a period of years
before significant effects are noticed. It is unlikely that a
public awareness campaign will be sufficient to change lifestyles
in a relatively short period. It is likely that some measure of
restriction of choice will be necessary.
The television campaign "Are you doing
your bit?" has been well promoted. There is very little other
evidence of education initiatives at national level.
Much of the information about waste incineration
focuses on the hazards from discharges and does not present a
balanced picture as to how small a "nanogram" is and
relatively how clean and green a technology energy from waste
is compared with other means of disposal and other processes which
result in discharges to air.
The importance of separating waste at source
and not putting items in a rubbish bin is something which could
be promoted as well as buying recycled goods.
Newspapers could be encouraged to publicise
the recycled content of the paper.
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