Engineering report calls for 'waste evolution'
Pressure on local authorities to recycle more to avoid exceeding their landfill allowance is creating the risk of a ‘quantity not quality’ approach to processing waste, which could see recycled material such as paper, glass and plastics in no state to be reused commercially, and ending up back in landfill according to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
In its State of the Nation: Waste and Resource Management 2011 report, the leading engineering body calls for a waste sector ‘evolution’, costing at least £10-20bn by 2020¹. This would see policy makers and the waste industry make a rapid shift towards a culture where the focus is not only on increasing the quantity of recycled materials but on retaining the quality and value of reusable materials as they move through the waste cycle, so they can be returned to and benefit the economy as first rate, saleable goods.
ICE says the progression to a ‘circular economy’ - where recovered and recycled materials are high enough quality to be routinely bought back into use, reducing the demand for goods made from raw materials - could see the waste industry be part of a resource efficiency drive that could contribute 10% to CO2 reduction. Most recycled materials have a lower CO2 footprint than raw materials which are extracted from the ground or grown and then go through a more carbon intensive process to become finished goods. 50% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials².
ICE waste and resource management expert Jonathan Davies, of SKM Enviros, said: “The UK’s waste management policy has been too narrowly focused on diverting waste from landfill and local authorities are stepping up to the challenge to avoid fines by increasing the quantity of recycled material. But we still need more action also to drive up the quality of the material being produced. Without this, the UK could generate increasingly poor quality recycled materials for which there are few buyers, and ironically their most likely final destination is landfill.
“In a world driven by carbon reduction and global competition for resources, it is time for the UK waste industry to evolve from a disposal sector into a ‘supply’ sector that unlocks the real economic value of materials in a low carbon fashion. This means collecting, sorting and reprocessing reusable materials based on their physical characteristics and the economic potential for their reuse.”
Council Tax payers could also benefit from the change in approach alongside the economy and the environment according to ICE, as producing and selling higher value recycled materials will generate more income for Local Authorities and therefore keep Council Tax bills down.
ICE says overhauling the waste sector will require a huge step change in how Government approaches waste management and a further £10-20bn investment over the next decade – mainly from the private sector - to upgrade waste infrastructure and build on the progress already made.
Davies said: “New central government funding for the waste PFI programme has now drawn to a close, so the onus is on the Government to create an environment that will encourage private investment and develop new thinking on how waste facilities could be funded. This will be critical in ensuring the progression to a ‘resource rich’ culture in the UK and a waste and resources sector that is environmentally and economically sound”.
The ICE report recommends that Government:
- Sets out clear goals in the overlapping areas of waste management, renewable energy generation, CO2 reduction and materials security so potential investors are clear on the priorities and can be confident that infrastructure built now will be fit for purpose in the future. This should include timescales, areas of interdependency and conflict.
- Consider utilising some of the £842mn per year generated by Landfill Tax to help capitalise the proposed Green Investment Bank, and support the roll out of new low carbon waste technologies.
- Deliver a National Policy Statement to set out existing capacity and future needs of the UK’s waste infrastructure.
- Create an Office for Resource Management to act as a single point of accountability and authority to drive action and help create the optimum conditions for delivery by local government, community groups and the private sector.
- Given constraints on DEFRA’s budget, ensure the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council support research in the area of waste and ensure new waste technologies are developed at a commercial scale – this will help ‘de-risk’ new waste technologies.
- Ensure local authorities take an active role in engaging with communities to promote the benefits of resource management and fully empower them to negotiate with developers to deliver wide benefits to communities where waste facilities are located (e.g. the provision of heat for community facilities such as swimming pools sited near Combined Heat & Power plants). Opposition to waste facilities leads to a lengthy and highly uncertain decision making process, which makes projects riskier and costlier.
More information
To download the full report, visit ice.org.uk/stateofthenation
Key waste facts:
- The UK produced an estimated 334 million tonnes of waste in 2008 (Eurostat 2010)
- Under the EU Landfill Directive the UK is committed to reducing Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) sent to landfill. This requires reductions against 1995 tonnages of:
35% by 2010
50% by 2013
65% by 2020
- Municipal Solid Waste and Commercial and Industrial waste (both of which are made up of materials with a potential high economic value such as paper, plastics, glass, wood and metals) is estimated to account for 34% of the total waste.
- 684,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved by recycling the UK’s plastics in 2006, the equivalent of taking more than 216,000 cars off the road (British Plastics Federation)
- For every ton of recycled glass, 1.2 tons of raw materials are not required (Waste Online)
- Local authorities get fined £150 per tonne if they landfill more than their allocation without buying extra allocations (this is around three times the current cost of landfill). There are extra penalties for breaching allocations in the Landfill Directive's `target years' of 2010, 2013 and 2020.
Municipal waste total tonnages, landfill and recycling rates (2005-2010) (Defra)
|
|
Year and tonnages (000’s)
|
|
Country
|
Method
|
2005/06
|
2006/07
|
2007/08
|
2008/09
|
2009/10
|
|
UK
|
Landfill
|
22,667
|
21,334
|
19,684
|
17,600
|
16,025
|
|
(percentage)
|
64.3%
|
60.0%
|
56.6%
|
52.7%
|
49.3%
|
|
Recycled/
composted
|
9,483
|
10,736
|
11,690
|
12,168
|
12,453
|
|
(percentage)
|
26.9%
|
30.2%
|
33.6%
|
36.4%
|
38.3%
|
|
Total
|
35,230
|
35,560
|
34,777
|
33,426
|
32,499
|
ICE’s State of the Nation: Waste and Resource Management report is based on verbal and written evidence from over 50 organisations, including local authorities, waste management companies, waste advisors, engineering consultancies, utility companies, NGOs and energy orgs.
¹Figure from Environmental Services Association Driving Change – Policy Proposals for a Greener Government (2010)
²Figures from WRAP Environmental Benefits of Recycling 2006
Media contacts
Kate Ison, ICE Media Manager, 0207 665 2104, Kate.ison@ice.org.uk
Notes to editors
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is a leading source of professional expertise in transport, water supply and treatment, flood management, waste and energy. Established in 1818, it has over 80,000 members throughout the world including over 60,000 in the UK. ICE’s vision is to place civil engineering the heart of society, delivering sustainable development through knowledge, skills and professional expertise. The ICE has long worked with the government of the day to help it to achieve its objectives, and has worked with industry to ensure that construction and civil engineering remain major contributors to the UK economy and UK exports.