COMMENT
A step in the right direction O
n the surface, last month’s Budget announcement looked a positive one for the waste sector. Extra gov- ernment funding for the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to the tune of £3B and the power to borrow, albeit delayed until 2015-16. Measures to speed up the planning process were also welcomed.
Both funding and planning are crucial in getting new infra- structure off the ground, and more waste treatment facilities are urgently needed. This sector is expected to nearly double its workforce by 2017 in recycling alone, and invest up to 20B in infrastructure and services in the coming decade. But, as ever, the devil is in the detail. Planning for instance – making haste with applications may not sit well with Localism. The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) remains concerned about potential tension between local planning priorities and more strategic environmental and resource efficiency objectives at both regional and national level.
And if the GIB doesn’t have the power to borrow until 2015, is it really going to be able to pack enough of a finan- cial punch? The Aldersgate Group feels not having the
ability to borrow immediately may well make the UK’s green industries uncompetitive when it comes to attracting investment.
George Osbourne’s creation of carbon price floor price for energy generation also sent out positive vibes, but the Environmental Industries Commission maintains that the GBI must “consider the whole spectrum of environmental business opportunities within the green economy, not just low carbon energy.”
The EIC is calling on the Government to ensure funding
for community scale green projects within the GIB’s man- date – as well as funding for technologies and services right across the environmental spectrum – if the bank is to truly live up to its name.
So for many, this Budget merely confirmed that the “green- est government ever” is still tinkering around the edges and has yet to truly deliver. Overall verdict? Progressing well, but could do better.
Maxine Perella Editor
4 Local Authority Waste & Recycling April 2011
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