Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Written Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Chemical Industries Association (X26)

INTRODUCTION

  The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) welcomes the chance to comment on this important issue, following the Committee's press notice of 28 June 2004. We strongly support the adoption of transparent, efficient and practicable regulation for the control of chemical industry waste and are committed directly through our own voluntary programmes to the reduction in the generation of waste by the industry. Waste management is a challenging area for the sector at present as we are currently in a shifting regulatory framework, particularly as the Landfill Directive is implemented.

INDUSTRIAL WASTE: THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY'S KEY MESSAGES AND AIMS

  1.  Implementation of the Landfill Directive is challenging manufacturing companies, particularly in the area of hazardous waste production. Prior to the 16 July 2004 deadline for the cessation of co-disposal, brought about by the Landfill Directive, we briefed our members on the likely implications of the Directive. To date, feedback from our members is that whilst there are certainly many remaining difficult local issues to tackle, implementation of the Directive is progressing relatively smoothly for the sector as a whole.

  2.  We are concerned and disappointed at the "just in time" approach of implementation adopted by Defra for the Directive. This led to considerable uncertainties for our sector in the run up to implementation and remaining uncertainties exist, particularly with regard to the longer-term sustainability of all waste disposal routes and their associated costs.

  3.  We remain concerned that the Government is not adequately addressing a number of higher-level, strategic issues. For example, we remain to be convinced that the existing land use planning system in the UK will deliver adequate waste treatment and recycling facilities for all classes of waste. Further, UK business needs a satisfactory definition or a better/more consistent interpretation of the existing definition waste. We wish to see the UK Government showing leadership in the EU on this issue.

HAZARDOUS WASTE

Resource use efficiency and recycling

  1.  The chemical industry accounts for around 12% of all "Special" (hazardous) waste generated in the UK and is working hard to reduce its production of waste through recycling and minimisation. The sector has already made large reductions in the amounts of waste sent for landfill for a number of reasons, including the improvement of overall performance under the industry's Responsible Care Programme and IP(P)C controls. Since 2002, our members have reduced hazardous waste production by 13% and have achieved a similar reduction in overall amounts of waste produced.

  2.  It is common good practice in the industry to have waste management strategies. The industry takes its Product Stewardship responsibilities seriously and we are working with our members to ensure that customers and those down the supply chain are aware of their waste responsibilities within this rapidly evolving policy area.

  3.  Moreover, the CIA has recently published, and the industry has embraced, a set of long-term sectoral performance/sustainable development goals for our membership to work towards. In particular, our members aim, collectively, to reduce hazardous waste production by 25% during the period 2000-10.

  4.  This has been a difficult aim to define given that the additional amount of such waste will increase as the UK adopts a new definition of "Hazardous Waste" in line with the Hazardous Waste Directive. It is also an ambitious target. We will monitor our progress against our goals closely and share that progress with all interested stakeholders.

  5.  To both highlight the recent changes in the law on waste and assist our Members in meeting the requirements of the Landfill Directive and to contribute to the sectoral goals set out in our sustainability strategy, we have issued a number of briefing notes, which offer practical guidance to companies, case studies and signpost them to other sources of advice.

The cost of waste disposal

  6.  The only certainty that faced the chemical industry during the implementation of the ban on co-disposal (the landfilling of hazardous and non-hazardous waste in the same landfill cell) was that the cost of landfilling was set to rise. Our members report landfill gate cost (the amount per tonne that waste producers are charged by landfill operators—this doesn't include in-house costs of waste management prior to sending to landfill) increases of around 100-150% (sic) since April this year.

  7.  Whilst we acknowledge that UK waste producers have enjoyed relatively low landfill gate-costs in comparison to the rest of Europe, certainty of unit costs is important for business planning. Any price rises in operational costs for chemical manufacturers affects the "bottom-line" for companies as global competition for chemical industry products tends to prohibit companies from passing costs to their customers. Sudden, unquantified price-rises are unwelcome and quantification of the costs of the ban on co-disposal might have been easier had landfill operator had more certainty and clarity over the UK implementation plans for the Directive at an earlier stage.

LACK OF CLARITY AND DELAYS IN DECISION MAKING

  8.  There are a large number of European directives and regulations on waste that create a comprehensive legal framework for the management and disposal of waste. The debate seeking a clear definition of the terms "waste" and "product", however has been going on for years in Europe, including the UK. Yet there is still no satisfactory definition of the point at which recovered waste once more becomes a product. We also lack clear criteria to distinguish between activities carried out to recover waste—and activities carried out to dispose of waste. This creates enormous barriers for waste producers wishing to recover, reuse or recycle waste or even operators merely wishing to manage their waste in the most sustainable way, as often operators become caught by expensive and burdensome waste regulation that would not apply to similar substances defined as "product"—putting UK business at a competitive disadvantage and possibly making less environmentally sustainable disposal routes more attractive.

  9.  With regards to landfilling of waste, the chemical industry, and other waste producers, has been operating in a period of uncertainty with regard to waste management since the Landfill Directive was first adopted in 1999. The development of Waste Acceptance Criteria for the various classes of landfill were seriously delayed in the UK leading to landfill operators being unable to clarify exactly which classes of landfill they would operate in future and in turn, waste producers not knowing if there was to be capacity for waste in future or what the cost of waste disposal would be (the assumption being that the more competition for landfill void, the higher the cost to waste producers).

  10.  There has also been a lack of adequate guidance on the implications of the Landfill Directive for waste producers. The "just in time" approach to transposing legislation into UK law has meant that there has been little or no time at all between drafting and enactment of legislation for appropriate guidance to be developed. We acknowledge that Trade Associations do have a role to play in providing practical guidance to their members and CIA has consistently offered advice to our members. The Government and environment agencies have a role to play however in providing early counsel to those affected by new legislation. Government interpretative text to meting the requirements of the Directive has only just appeared on the Defra website (ie in September 2004).

  11.  Our underlying message is that uncertainties in the area of waste policy make it difficult for waste producers to develop coherent medium to long-term strategies. Whilst this situation persists, it is difficult to envisage that, in the short-term at least, waste producers will truly be able to take responsibility for planning the final destination of their waste.


LANDFILL: GENERAL ISSUES

Long-term capacity and flexibility in hazardous waste disposal

  12.  In order to provide the increased capacity for waste testing, treatment and final disposal that the Landfill Directive is driving, the Environment Agency have estimated that 2,000 additional waste management facilities will be needed to meet the requirements of the EU landfill directive alone. In order to facilitate this, the land-use planning process (controlled by the ODPM) will need to provide the conditions within which the private sector can take investment decisions, obtain a waste management licence or a Pollution Prevention and Control permit from the Environment Agency and construct a site. The present planning regime is unlikely to deliver the required infrastructure and we would urge the Government to consider how to streamline and focus the present system, in order to deliver.

  13.  We support the concept of the waste hierarchy as set out in the Government's Waste Strategy 2000 for England and Wales. This suggests that the most effective environmental solution is to reduce the generation of waste. However, where further reduction is not practicable, products and materials can sometimes be re-used. Failing that, value should be recovered from waste through recycling or composting, or where that is inappropriate, other options further down the hierarchy should be considered. We believe that all disposal options should remain open and "Best Practicable Environmental Option" (BPEO) for waste streams should be taken into account. As best-practice and waste legislation pushes waste up the hierarchy, pressure is inevitably placed on disposal outlets higher up the hierarchy. It is important that strategic planning for all waste disposal options is high on the agenda of the Government and waste industry, in discussion with waste producers and local authorities to ensure adequate future provision of a variety of waste disposal outlets. We are concerned that Government is not seriously addressing these broader strategic issues of waste planning in a coherent way.

  14.  Certain chemical industry wastes require high temperature incineration due to their nature (ie are difficult to dispose of as they have hazardous/flammable/corrosive properties). Incineration remains an important final disposal option for our sector where recovery or recycling of wastes is just not practically or economically feasible. We note that Defra's own research ("Review of Health and Environmental Effects of Waste Management" published on 6 May 2004) acknowledges that properly managed modern incineration is safe and a viable option for waste management.

  15.  We are concerned that as landfill capacity for hazardous waste becomes limited, waste producers might become increasingly reliant on incineration. Whilst there is some capacity in the merchant high temperature incineration sector, careful consideration must be given to the impacts that other legislative changes in the waste arena, such as amendments to the Substitute Fuels Protocol, are having on the availability of a range of wastes for incineration. We would hope that the Government and Environment Agency are working together at a strategic level to secure a variety of disposal/recovery options for waste producers without inadvertently damaging the commercial viability of any option. We have no evidence that this "joined up" and strategic thinking is taking place.

  16.  As an industry that sends some waste for energy to cement kilns, we have welcomed the Environment Agency's draft proposals to amend the scope of the "Substitute Fuels Protocol". The retention of cement kilns as an alternative combustion option for our sector allows for flexibility of final disposal route for many wastes that have to be burned because of their nature. Chemical manufacturers have immediate commercial considerations with respect to disposal options for waste, particularly post 16 July Landfill Directive cessation of co-disposal. Cement kilns offer an economical outlet, which in many cases represents the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) for the circumstances. We would expect that the Government and Environment Agency, in their consideration of legislative requirements for burning of wastes as fuels or for disposal, offer a level-playing field for all players in the combustion market and that high environmental standards would apply.

  17.  We wish to see Government provide clarity on the role that it sees incineration playing in future as if it is to play an important role, the long lead-in time for incineration facilities to be provided points to the fact that planning for future capacity needs to be undertaken now, within a clear government strategy.

ADDENDUM: THE UK CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

  Waste Production in the Chemical Industry: The Chemical Industry produces 1.75 million tonnes of waste per year, around 35% or 607 000 tonnes of which is Hazardous. This represents a reduction in total waste arisings of around 13% since 2002 and a reduction in Hazardous Waste produced of around 13%.

  Chemicals' Contribution to Society: the industry's products form the basis for every manufacturing activity, underpinning transport, healthcare, food and drink, construction, textiles, IT—and indeed all other sectors of the economy. It is impossible to divorce a successful and responsible chemical industry from the colourful, diverse, clean and safe environment and high standard of living that we have come to take for granted.

  In particular, industrial chemicals can proudly claim a major role in increasing human longevity and the quality of life—life expectancy at birth doubled in the 20th century. Not only can this be attributed to such recognisably chemically derived products as drugs and antibiotics but improved water treatment, detergents and pesticides have all played their part.

  Key Contribution to the British Economy and Employment: the chemical industry in the UK employs 230,000 directly nationwide, and accounts for 2% of UK GDP and 11% of manufacturing industry's gross value added. (Within the EU as a whole, the chemical sector employs 1.7 million people).

  It invests over £2 billion annually (plus £3.5 billion on R&D) and is the UK's top manufacturing export earner, with an annual trade surplus of nearly £5 billion on a gross output of £46 billion. It also provides a tax and national insurance contribution of nearly £5 billion a year to the UK national government and local authorities. The sector also invests approximately £400 million a year on training and, on average, full-time employee hourly earnings are 29% higher than in manufacturing generally.

  Industry and the Environment: in 2001, the chemical sector spent more money on environmental protection than any other comparable British sector. An independent report for Defra estimates that the UK chemical industry spent a massive £713 million on environmental protection during 2001 or 18% of the £3.9 billion spent by the whole of UK industry.

  This level of expenditure is indicative of the importance that the chemical sector places on protection of the UK's air, water and soil environments and, as such, is also a tribute to the success of the CIA's part in the global "Responsible Care" programme that commits all its members to continual improvement in all aspects of health, safety and environmental performance.

  This expenditure has delivered impressive reductions in emissions from the chemical industry. For example, between 1998 and 2001 emissions of solvents, in the form of Volatile Organic Compounds, from CIA member companies reduced by a third—from 61,000 to 41,600 tonnes.

  The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) & Sustainable Development: the CIA itself comprises 175 operating companies, based at 280 manufacturing sites nationwide. It is the predominant trade association and employers' federation for the industry, and embraces all trade sectors, product types and business activities. Based in Westminster, the Association employs 50 staff headed by the Director General, Judith Hackitt. The CIA's mission statement is:

    "To represent the UK chemical and allied industries to all external stakeholders and to support our members in achieving economic, social and environmental sustainability".

  In September 2003, CIA's governing Council adopted a new vision for the sector, based on "a competitive and economically sustainable industry, adopting innovative business solutions that help satisfy society's needs while:

    —  optimising the use of resources;

    —  ensuring that we have taken all reasonable steps to prevent harm to human health and the environment;

    —  demonstrating good practice in ethical behaviour;

    —  respecting the culture and rights of individuals; and

    —  adopting the highest standards of corporate governance and accountability", summarised as "meeting needs and expectations".

  This followed the launched of a "Leadership Statement" on Sustainable Development in November 2000 and the setting of its first Responsible Care Performance Goals in January 2003. 2004 will see the publication of a full set of guiding principles and comprehensive sustainable development goals for CIA's members.

13 October 2004





 
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