INFORM Waste
POLICY TARGETS
Surrey County Council has
dumped plans to incinerate
rubbish and announced a move Capital strategy to end landfill
to anaerobic digestion and
gasification. London has set itself some ambi-
The council has also claimed tious targets on waste. By 2015,
a UK first by announcing plans Mayor Boris Johnson wants the
for an Eco Park for its waste. capital to be recycling at least 45%
The new park, to be sited in of its municipal waste – rising to
Shepperton, is planned to have 60% by 2031 and sending no
an anaerobic digester and gasi- municipal waste to landfill by
fication plant, costing a quarter 2025. The capital produces four
of the £200M set aside for two million tonnes of waste a year, and
planned energy-from-waste its recycling rates are the lowest of
incinerators. all English regions. It also com-
The council will also build an pares badly with other interna-
innovation centre to look at and tional cities.
develop the new waste tech- The Mayor’s draft waste strate-
nologies and an education cen- gy, London’s Wasted Resource,
tre to promote recycling. contains a series of measures and Boris Johnson wants London to recycle at least 45% of its municipal waste
commits Johnson to working with
PROSECUTION
local authorities to boost on future council tax bills. want to work with borough coun-
A high street footwear chain London’s recycling rates, ensure “Some of London’s boroughs cils to harvest the massive eco-
has been hit with more than streets are cleaner ahead of 2012 are taking pioneering strides for- nomic potential coming from
£30,000 in fines and court costs and save up to £90M a year. ward to boost their recycling London’s waste both to save
after admitting not sticking to According to the draft this sav- rates, however overall in London money off the City’s bills and to
waste regulations. ing could be made by sending no we are really lagging behind,” improve our environment.
Brantano (UK), which has rubbish to landfill, recycling as admitted Johnson. “We must also seek to unblock
147 outlets across the country, much as possible, and taking ener- “It is not only detrimental to the remaining barriers to recycling
pleaded guilty to 15 charges gy from what is left over. With our environment, but economical- making it easier to take this option
related to not registering with landfill rates set to increase from ly a backwards step to be sending rather than simply chuck unwant-
the Environment Agency and current associated costs of around our rubbish to landfill and I am ed stuff in the bin, for example,
failing to meet its packaging £245M to £307M a year by 2013, writing to all the borough leaders providing better collection
waste requirements between these proposals seek to help to urge them to pull out the stops facilities in flats and multi-occu-
2003 and 2007. The company boroughs to minimise pressure to boost our recycling efforts. I pancy dwellings.”
dodged £20,000 worth of fees
by not following government
ENERGY-FROM-WASTE
regulations under the Producer
Responsibility Obligations
AD key to hitting energy targets
(Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997, 2005 and 2007. Gas produced from the anaerobic future of Britain’s gas, electricity water industry in the UK, uses
digestion of waste could be meet- and heat supply. micro-organisms to break down
INDUSTRY
ing 10% of the UK’s energy ADBA executive chairman, agricultural and household waste
The waste and recycling indus- needs within the next ten years. Lord Redesdale claims that to produce methane gas, which
try in the West Midlands has This is the claim of the trade “Britain will fail to meet its can then be converted into elec-
received a boost worth nearly body representing the industry, renewable energy targets without tricity or heat or injected directly
£1.5M through grants awarded which argues its potential is rapid building of a nationwide into the gas or electricity grids.
to 13 businesses recycling a being massively underused in the anaerobic digestion infrastruc- ABDA believes the industry
range of commercial and UK at the moment. ture”. ADBA predicts farmers, will employ 20,000 to 40,000
industrial waste streams. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a commercial operators and people producing up to 20% of
The grants have been award- mature technology, with thou- local authorities will build a Britain’s domestic gas supply.
ed by the WRAP AWM pro- sands of facilities up and running thousand AD plants in the next Lord Redesdale added: “At a
gramme and will enable busi- in European countries with a five years at a cost of £5B, most- time when the cost and security
nesses to increase recycling better track record at dealing ly funded by the private sector, of our gas supply is in jeopardy,
capacities or diversify and add with waste, but currently there with the aim to generate gas when there is so much public
value to the types of materials are only 30 or so plants operating worth £1.7B a year. support for renewable technolo-
they can recycle. in the UK. The Anaerobic These new plants could meet gies, and when we do not look
Overton Recycling’s grant will Digestion and Biogas Association two thirds of Britain’s renewable like we are going to hit our
go towards the purchase of a (ADBA) is arguing that the UK energy targets by 2020. renewable and recycling targets,
materials handler that will must catch up with its European AD, which is already widely it is surprising that anaerobic
increase capacity for recycling cousins and that the technology implemented in EU countries digestion is not one of our
waste electrical and electronic will play an important role in the such as Germany and in the top priorities.”
equipment.
IN FACT EVERY TONNE OF FOOD WASTE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 4.5 TONNES OF CO
2
EMISSIONS
8 February 2010 ❘ Sustainable Business
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