Defra Select Committee Report on Waste

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) today (19 January 2010) published that latest Select Committee Report on a waste strategy for England.

The Report’s summary states:
“Every year some 330 million tonnes of waste are produced in the UK at huge economic and environmental cost. The direct costs of managing this waste—£2.5 billion annually for English household waste alone—are dwarfed by the costs of using new resources to replace discarded materials. The Government should, as a priority, set out a timetable with targets for reducing the total amount of waste produced.

“Defra’s Waste Strategy focuses disproportionately on domestic waste, which contributes less than 10% of all waste, while omitting firm targets for the commercial and industrial sectors which produce around a quarter of all waste. Defra must rectify this urgently, plugging the data gap by utilising information routinely collected to enable progress to be monitored. Funding cuts to services designed to help businesses manage their waste well are premature and should be re-evaluated and ways to extend such services to a wider range of organisations should be considered.

“Waste is a valuable resource, but far too small a proportion is re-used, recycled, composted or used to produce energy. Nearly half of all waste is still sent to landfill sites where it contributes to climate change, producing 3% of the country’s greenhouse gases and 40% of its methane emissions. This throw away tendency is exemplified by the so-called “Primark effect” which has led to large increases in the amount of clothing sent to landfill sites. Food waste is another significant component of waste sent to landfill sites and householders, food producers and retailers need to do more to reduce the amount of food discarded unnecessarily. We welcome the Government’s proposed consultation on banning certain materials from landfill sites to encourage more waste to be recycled and re-used but its timescale is unambitious and it should implement such a ban by 2015.

“Householders have already improved their recycling and composting levels to 37%. Defra should now raise its recycling targets to 50% by 2015 and 60% by 2020. Local authorities need to reinforce public support for recycling by explaining exactly how much it costs to collect and dispose of each bagful, or wheelie bin load, of waste, and give people more information on what happens to materials they put out for recycling. Defra needs to be more supportive of local authorities’ work to help residents manage their waste, in particular it should explain how it will introduce a more rational regime for charging for domestic waste.

“Waste should only be used for energy recovery if it is not possible to re-use, recycle or compost it. To achieve maximum energy efficiency levels, planning consent for energy from waste plants must require heat to be captured and used. The Government should publish guidance on the health and safety impacts of all energy from waste technologies.

“The role of the Private Finance Initiative in funding infrastructure development must be reviewed since it can restrict local authorities’ ability to respond to changes in technologies and waste collection systems. The Government should address delays in the planning system for new facilities and extend the escalator for landfill tax levels to 2020 to give certainty to those investing in long-term projects. Defra must ensure that enforcement of waste regulation is fully funded. The Government must ensure that local authorities are using their powers fully to prevent fly-tipping and littering. Courts must recognise the seriousness of waste crime, including illegal exports of waste to other countries. Agencies must be enabled to fully share intelligence on criminal waste exports”.

Raising domestic recycling targets means that households may face a return to the ‘slop bucket’ for food waste. Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said that instead of being thrown away on landfill sites, food waste would be used for composting or turned into energy. Britain throws away 8.3 million tonnes of food each year, costing families with children £680 a year, according to government figures. Food waste at landfill sites is also estimated to generate about 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, the equivalent of emissions from four million cars.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) spokesperson Julian Kirby said:
“The Committee is right to call for higher recycling rates from households and businesses but we must be more ambitious – the Belgian region of Flanders is already recycling over 70 per cent of its waste.

“Friends of the Earth’s research shows the UK is throwing away over £650 million each year by dumping and incinerating waste. Recycling it instead could save 19 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually – the same as taking six million cars off the roads.

“The Government should ban the landfill and incineration of recyclable material, stop funding wasteful incineration schemes and provide support instead to expanding recycling and food waste collections.

“This, alongside tougher recycling targets for household and business waste, will help slash carbon emissions and allow the UK reap the financial benefits of making better use of precious natural resources.”

Links
Defra Committee.

Defra Waste.

Friends of the Earth.

Alex Galloway - 19/01/10

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