ENERGY FROM WASTE
Business leaders urge bolder approach to recovery
The CBI is calling on the Government to harness the growth potential of energy recovery by making it easier for the industry to adopt new technologies
to deliver easy wins on a number of big policy areas from meeting climate change targets and bolstering energy security to helping unlock infrastruc- ture investment.
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In its recent report Making ends meet: Maximising the value of waste the business group highlights the ben- efits of moving to a zero waste econo- my. As well as meeting targets to cut the amount of rubbish sent to landfill, an ambitious waste policy could pro- vide growth opportunities for business- es by making it easier for more firms to sell their recyclable waste to other companies as a resource. It could also encourage councils to share waste and recycling facilities, creating savings. With 300 of the UK’s landfill sites due to close in the next decade, around 2,000 new waste management facil- ities need to be built by 2020, at an estimated cost of £10B. With the Government’s waste policy review imminent, the CBI is calling for a cross-department approach from the Government and changes to the plan- ning regime to deliver the investment needed in infrastructure.
“We risk missing a trick by not harnessing the huge potential of waste. Rather than being viewed in isolation, waste management should be seen as an important part of the green econo- my and our growth strategy,” says Dr Neil Bentley, deputy director-general at the CBI.
He adds: “Ambitious waste policies will allow the Government to hit a broad range of its objectives from cut- ting emissions to bolstering energy
24 Local Authority Waste & Recycling April 2011
he CBI is urging the Government to be bold in its approach to waste policy and recognise its potential
Grabbing opportunity: business leaders seek to tap into the potential of EfW
cap
security. We should also be encourag- ing councils to share recycling and waste facilities, while businesses could be incentivised to sell their recyclable waste.
Lateral thinking
“But moving to a zero-waste economy will require government departments working together and thinking outside the box. There also needs to be swift action to tackle delays in the planning system. On average it takes seven years for a waste management com- pany to get a plant up and running, of which four are spent in the planning process. That is not the way to attract investment.”
Among the measures the CBI is call- ing for the Government to deliver are cross-governmental cooperation from Defra, DECC, BIS and the Department for Communities & Local Government beyond the lifetime of the waste
review, taking joint ownership of the delivery plan. A full audit of current regulation should also be undertaken to ensure they deliver the best environ- mental and economic results. The report is also urging for plan- ning certainty to attract investment – the Government must recognise the importance of waste management facilities to local communities in its planning reforms.
Increased adoption of energy-from- waste technologies to reduce carbon use and deliver energy security and improved data on commercial and industrial waste to improve policy implementation is another recommen- dation.
Finally, the CBI would like to see an incentivised approach to waste recy- cling that benefits small and medium- sized companies, and an integrated local policy to help different councils deliver zero waste.
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