House of Lords - Science and Technology

Select Committee on Science and Technology Written Evidence

Memorandum by the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Centre for Local Authorities

HOW ARE LOCAL AUTHORITIES SUPPORTING WASTE PREVENTION WITHIN THEIR LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITIES?

1. THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Waste and the inefficient use of resources is a growing problem that impacts on the environmental, social and economic aspects of all modern economies. Total waste arisings in England were estimated to be around 272 million tonnes per annum in 2007 and is expected to rise by 13 per cent per annum[6] with 90 per cent coming from the commercial and industrial sector, mining and quarrying, agriculture and other "business" related activities.

The costs of disposing of materials classed as waste are rising. The standard rate of tax will increase by £8 per tonne per year from April 2008 until at least 2010-11 to give greater financial incentives to businesses to reduce, reuse and recycle waste (from £32/tonne now to £48/tonne in 2010). These costs take no account of the rising costs of obtaining raw materials and the energy used in manufacturing goods or the environmental impacts associated with disposal. The question is whether this fiscal incentive is enough to encourage businesses to reduce the waste they produce, rather than consume the cost of disposal. From the evidence provided below, it is clear that other initiatives can also enable the behavioural change required within businesses to start reducing their waste.

2. DEMAND FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

2.1 National Focus

Over the last five years there have been numerous pieces of research led by government-funded organisations investigating the level of knowledge and activity amongst business communities on environmental issues, and what is needed to achieve behavioural change to reduce their impact on the environment.

During the last decade there has been a notable shift in the reported attitude of businesses towards improving their environmental performance and specifically how they can reduce their waste and improve the efficient use of their resources.

For the last five years the Environment Agency has been running an SME (Small and Medium sized Enterprises) survey that looks at identifying environmental attitudes and behaviour amongst businesses. The focus has been on SMEs because they make up 99 per cent of the economic profile of the UK.[7] The most recent survey, SME-nvironment 2007, reports that:

The general message from this survey is that more businesses within England are willing to engage in the environmental agenda, look at ways in which they can reduce, reuse and recycle their waste and gain and improve profits through more efficient use of their resources. The report also highlights the important role local authorities can play in supporting businesses to take action. According to the report 49 per cent of businesses contact their local authority on environmental issues and 30 per cent see local authorities as a valuable source of environmental information.[9] This type of feedback highlights the important role local authorities can play to inform local business behaviour, especially if they are the first port of call for a local business looking for guidance. However, if a business is willing to consider behavioral change it is important for local authorities to be in a position to harness that willingness and be able to support and enable the means by which change can happen.

2.2 Local Focus

More localised pieces of work from within local authorities back up the Environment Agency report. Oxfordshire County Council has undertaken two county wide business waste surveys, in 2005 and 2007. The main purpose of these surveys was to identify local business needs and feed them into the development of services and strategies that would enable local businesses to reduce, reuse and recycle. The results of the survey showed that SMEs tend to have a lack of awareness about environmental legislation, in particular their Duty of Care,[10] and they require the provision of services such as trade waste recycling to enable them to change their behaviour. Many of the businesses also cited their local authority as the primary organisation they would look to for support to deal with their waste more effectively.

Recommendations from Oxfordshire County Council's Trade Waste Report 2005 included:

— Development of an awareness campaign to educate SMEs to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste.

— Support for business to business resource exchange.

These recommendations identified areas in which Oxfordshire County Council could improve the management of services to local businesses, and in turn support the behavioural change required within businesses to manage their resources more efficiently.

3. ADDRESSING THE ISSUES

The recent publication of the Waste Strategy (England 2007) encourages local authorities:

The Strategy also draws attention to the particular difficulties faced by SMEs in recycling their waste, exemplified by the survey results discussed above, and the benefits they could receive from local authority support.

4. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ROLE

The framework of various statutory and discretionary obligations in which local authorities work enable them to undertake both practical and strategic work to support their business community in achieving resource efficiency savings and can act, should they wish, in a variety of ways that can range from the direct provision of business recycling services to the development of resource management strategies and suitable planning strategies. Local authorities can also address the level in which they support local businesses from preventing or reducing waste production through Local Area Agreements and Sustainable Community Strategies, all of which are statutory obligations to develop, however, they do not have a statutory obligation to include targets around business resource efficiency and waste reduction. Nor do they have any statutory obligation to recycle business waste, only Waste Collection Authorities have an obligation to "arrange for the collection of trade waste on request".[13]

Local authorities also have a leadership role in their communities. The importance of this role is increasingly being recognised and the legal powers they have are being explored and utilised. However, the extent to which any particular local authority acts upon their discretionary, rather than statutory, powers depends on local political decisions. It is the decision making at this local level that can make the difference between a resource efficient approach to a resource intensive one, and is critical to helping businesses plan their use of resources, if they are to continue to be competitive in the domestic and international markets.[14]

5. THE BREW CENTRE FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES

In April 2006 a consortium formed between the Local Government Association, the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) and Oxfordshire County Council set up a central support service for local authorities, funded through Defra's Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Programme operational between 2002-06 and 2007-08. The BREW Centre for Local Authorities (BREW Centre) provides support and guidance to local authorities enabling them to develop and implement better services, strategies and infrastructure to their local business community and help the business community to become more resource efficient, reduce waste and improve overall profits in the local area.

The BREW Centre's overall objective is to support the Government's vision of the future[15] where businesses operate within their environmental means, without negatively impacting on their competitiveness. It also seeks to encourage more profitable businesses through minimised waste and more efficient use of materials, waste and energy and provide intelligence on hard outputs such as the reduction in greenhouse gases or equivalents, material diverted from landfill and cost savings to businesses achieved by the projects it funds.

The BREW Centre also aims to create an enabling and innovating environment where all councils do more to plan, deliver, join-up and evaluate activity to support businesses to be more resource efficient by responding to local needs and circumstances and adding value through building on existing structures.

The Centre is designed to act as a conduit for other Government funded delivery bodies, in line with a Government statement of values,[16] enabling them to engage with businesses and ensuring a joined up approach at both a local and regional level, reducing the potential for duplication and ensuring businesses receive the greatest benefits from the delivery bodies.

Since it was formed the BREW Centre has delivered a "central" support service for councils which has encouraged and supported local authorities to do more for their business community. It has funded over 35 local authority business resource efficiency projects in 2006-07 and 2007-08, shared the lessons learned through a series of national and regional networking events and researched and disseminated over 100 good practice case studies as well as providing information, guidance and advice to local authorities. An "active learning" network of over 850 local authority officers has disseminated how action can help local business and the environment.

The BREW Centre has offered support and funds to local authorities to develop and deliver resource efficiency projects in the following areas:

Business Waste Recycling: To provide separate collection/bring sites for recyclable materials to business waste customers or projects that influence local private contractors to offer more recycling services as a part of business waste collections.

Business Waste/Resource Management Strategies: To enable a greater understanding of the business waste produced in a localised areas and the strategies and action plans needed to enable businesses to become more resource efficient and divert waste away from landfill.

Planning: To ensure that waste planning documents are underpinned by a "Material Resources Strategy" to create the right environment for private sector investment.

Sector Specific Support: To ensure that there is support for business sectors particularly affected by landfill tax increases or new regulation.

Business Advice Support: To support local business through Local Business Partnerships (LBPs) or other business networks.

Procurement: To develop the use of procurement to support resource management.

Public Sector: To work with other public sector organisations such as the police or fire services to help them design out crime and fire risk (arson) arising from the storage of waste.

To create the right environment for private sector investment to build waste management/materials processing facilities and actively encourage business to the area.

Below is a list of local authority led projects the BREW Centre has supported during 2006-07 and 2007-08. Further examples of how local authorities within England are supporting their business community reduce waste and improve their resource efficiency can be found at www.eas.local.gov.uk/brew.

5.1 Business Resource Efficiency Pack

The Business Resource Efficiency Pack was specifically designed for SMEs, to help them identify how they can reduce, reuse and recycle their waste. The pack was originally designed by Oxfordshire County Council through the support of the Republic of Ireland's Race Against Waste (RAW) team, and part financed by the South East Economic Development Agency. It was designed so that Oxfordshire County Council could promote the waste reduction message from the household into the workplace and vice versa, and after a consultation with local businesses it was concluded that a booklet would support the required behavioural change within local businesses. Since Oxfordshire County Council agreed to deliver the BREW Centre for Local Authorities it has been able to offer the use of the pack to over 35 other local authorities across England with over 6000 businesses receiving the information.

5.2 Hampshire County Council Increasing Secondary Aggregates

Construction, excavation and demolition wastes comprise of about half of the overall waste stream in Hampshire. The County Council saw significant scope to reduce the volume as well as increase the amount recycled back into aggregates, soils and related materials and products with the later option having important benefits in reducing the environmental impacts associated with mining primary aggregates. Hampshire County Council has long been advocates of promoting waste as a resource through a programme of leadership and engagement involving other partners in the County. A prime example of this was a project in 2006-07 looking at addressing local minerals and waste policies, in line with the regional spatial strategy, and identifying opportunities for improving the use of secondary aggregates through engaging and consulting with the construction sector.

5.3 Isle of Wight Business Waste Strategy

In 2006-07 the Isle of Wight identified the need to address the island's approach to waste management, with the harsh reality that their reliance on landfill would have to end by 2015. The Council had a good understanding of the requirements to deal with household waste, however, it wanted to take a more holistic approach to resource management on the island and sort to develop their understanding of their business communities waste management requirements. The consultation exercise led to the development of a Business Waste Strategy which identified the role the authority can play in supporting its business community in reducing, reusing and recycling their waste. The strategy also helped the authority inform the development of new technology, enabling them to deal with the waste they produced on the island and reduce the amount of waste that needed to be shipped off the island.

5.4 Milton Keynes Behavioural Change Business Seminars

Milton Keynes Council recognised the success of an environmental support service delivered by the Green Business Network (GBN) in the neighbouring authority of Bedfordshire. Milton Keynes Council sought funding in 2007-08 for the GBN to deliver similar services within its authority's boundary. The GBN agreed to run regular seminars and events for local businesses dealing with environmental and related issues; provide on-line and on-site support to businesses; and put businesses in touch with other businesses or organisations that provide environmental help and advice in particular, addressing how businesses can reduce their waste production.

5.5 Manchester City Business Resource Efficiency for Manufacturers

Manchester City Council, in 2007-08, worked with a number of local partners to provide a service to 30 SMEs in the manufacturing sector to provide a full range of support services and advice mechanisms to minimise their waste, increase their energy efficiency and allow them to become more profitable. Businesses were selected following research and consultation with partners and were signed up to a year long scheme. SMEs in the manufacturing sector were targeted due to the size and nature of their business being particularly affected by landfill tax increases. Manufacturing businesses generally use a large amount of raw materials and have high energy consumption. This creates a high potential for savings to be made, both environmentally and financially. There are clusters of manufacturing businesses in industrial estates throughout Manchester and in particular Trafford Park, which were suitable for the project and in a position to work with each other to make the financial and resource savings.

5.6 Oxfordshire County Council Trade Waste Recycling Centre

In 2005 Oxfordshire County Council undertook a county wide trade waste survey to determine the needs of their business community. The recommendations within the resulting report included the need amongst local businesses for a trade recycling collection and bring service. As a Waste Disposal Authority the County Council could not directly improve the provision of recycling collection services to its local businesses, however, it could look at ways in which it could work with the private sector to improve the provision of trade recycling bring sites. Appendix 6 provides an overview of their trade recycling centre project delivered in 2007, including some of the results.

5.7 BREW Centre Results

The BREW Centre projects and services have shown that with a relatively small amount of kick-start funding and support, services can be developed and implemented that have a high impact on the ability to improve business resource efficiency.[17] At present 62 per cent of Waste Collection Authorities are collecting business wastes and of those 38 per cent are providing a recycling service. Initial findings from a BREW Centre survey show that there has been a 7.5 per cent rise in the number of local authorities providing a trade recycling service over an eight month period, indicating a growing realisation of their ability to improve services to businesses,[18] and a local authority's ability to support its business community to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Table 1 details the outputs the BREW Centre has achieved between 2006-07 and 2007-08. The results exemplify how local authorities, whether taking a strategic or direct role in supporting businesses to improve the use of their resources, can have a significant impact in reducing waste to landfill, reducing carbon emissions and importantly decoupling economic growth from environmental protection through enabling financial savings.

Table 1

BREW CENTRE OUTPUTS FOR 2006-07 TO 2007-08 (DATABUILD LTD)

Metrics	Units	Figures with attribution	Figures with attribution and persistence
Diversion from landfill	Tonnes	71,753	358,733
Virgin raw materials saved	Tonnes	139,271	696,325
Carbon dioxide savings	Tonnes	34,093	170,430
Reduction in potable water	m3	24	120
Reduction in hazardous waste	Tonnes	67,551	337,755
Cost savings to businesses	Pounds	9,424,869	47,123,371
Cost savings to the LA	Pounds	54,238	271,190
Additional sales	Pounds	3,183,946	15,919,728

Over the last two years the BREW Centre has developed a network of officers and worked with their local authorities on a series of case studies designed to provide actionable advice and "lessons learned" and also show how their projects and services have been specified, designed, financed, implemented and operated in practice. Case studies are available on a dedicated website www.eas.local.gov.uk/brew.

6. WORKING WITH REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES

Regional development agencies (RDAs) look to work with local authorities to translate national and regional demands into local action. RDAs provide regional leadership, ensuring that major regional decisions and plans are informed by sustainable development priorities and analysis, enabling them to deliver carbon reduction in the business sector, supporting resource efficiency advice for SMEs through the Business Link organisation, and through their role in regional co-ordination of business resource efficiency activity (previously funded through Defra's Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme (BREW) Programme). Examples of RDAs supporting local authorities who wish to help their business community prevent waste production include:

— South East Economic Development Agency's funding for the development of the Business Resource Efficiency Pack by Oxfordshire County Council.

— Yorkshire Forward's support for the development of trade recycling services offered by local authorities.

— North West Regional Development Agency support for the development of EnviroConnect. A business advise service local authorities can sign post their businesses to for information on improving their environmental performance, including how to prevent waste (www.environmentconnect.co.uk).

— Advantage Waste Midland's "Waste is Money" event, linking the private sector and public sector together identifying suitable resource/material exchange through the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (www.nisp.org.uk).

7. THE FUTURE

Through the Sub-National Review[19] the emerging policy is to combine existing economic strategies and planning strategies for each English region into a single integrated regional strategy to be drawn up by the RDA to bring together the economic, social and environmental objectives for each region. The RDAs will have to be aware of the needs of the business community, the waste management industry and local authorities and must consider and interpret any national, regional or local data. They must also interpret intelligence on constraints to capacity development and consider national policy expectations and requirements. This is particularly important as the resulting strategies will have a profound impact on the business community at a time when it is evident that more businesses are opening their doors to issues around environmental performance and resource efficiency.[20]

Local government leadership and vision has to be an essential part of the drive for resource management. The decoupling of economic growth from environmental impact can be achieved through encouraging local authorities to use their leadership role in influencing resource management within their locality which can go some way to addressing climate change. It is the decision making at this local level that can make the difference between a resource efficient approach to a resource intensive one and is critical to helping businesses plan their use of resources, if they are to continue to be competitive in the domestic and international markets. Local authorities can provide direct and more strategic support to their local businesses, and by doing so can divert significant material away from landfill, prevent virgin material from being used and importantly save businesses money. Small businesses need practical measures to help them address their waste and may need to be shown how reduction and reuse methods can affect them as they may find it hard to apply generalised or isolated case studies to their specific situations. That is what the BREW Centre projects and NISP provide. Information alone can too often be binned or not accessed.

1 May 2008

www.netregs.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/smenvironment2007uk_1856733.pdf.