Clean air measures ‘mustn’t


punish waste companies’ W


aste companies and other heavy goods vehicle-operators must be considered by


councils when measures to tackle air pollution are drawn up later this year, a trade association has warned.


T e Road Haulage Association (“RHA”) which represents HGV operators in a number of sectors, including waste management, has made the comments in light of a national debate over the introduction of ‘clean air zones’ in towns and cities.


T is comes aſt er the government published details of its plan to tackle harmful nitrogen dioxide pollution, in order to bring the UK in line with its legally binding EU targets to reduce emissions, which have not been met for several years.


T e laws have been brought in to limit the eff ect of harmful air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, which have been linked to as many as 40,000 premature deaths in the UK alone, according to latest studies.


Emissions from road transport are thought to contribute up to one third of nitrogen oxide emissions in the UK, with diesel vehicles contributing the biggest share, according to the government.


Among the options touted by government as being eff ective in reducing emissions are clean air zones, which would limit movements of vehicles in highly polluted areas, and could in some instances include charging vehicle operators to use their vehicles where congestion occurs.


T is could in particular target petrol and diesel powered vehicles which do not meet the latest Euro VI emission standard, which sets strict limits for the emissions of harmful pollutants including nitrogen dioxide from exhausts.


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Councils named within the government’s plan have until March 2018 to draw up draſt proposals to address nitrogen dioxide pollution from road traffi c in their area, with a fi nal deadline of December 2018 to have fi rm plans in place.


But, RHA has warned that ‘poorly executed’ clean air zones could add signifi cant costs to businesses operating large fl eets of vehicles, include some in the waste sector, which may be forced to invest heavily in improvements in order to comply with any potential restrictions in towns and cities.


T e organisation claims that the latest Euro VI emissions vehicles are ‘shown to perform to standard in real-world operation’ and that any potential clean air zone should focus on


vehicles creating the most pollution in ‘hot spots’.


In a policy paper


‘Accomodating Freight in Clean Air Zones’, published


last month, RHA said: “Many new clean air zones are considering limiting the type of large vehicle (by Euro standard)


entering the clean air zone to encourage the use of Euro VI HGVs and buses. T e RHA recognises this as a reasonable approach, but we also understand that the costs on businesses and consumers will be grossly excessive if done across wide areas.”


RHA claimed that any potential measures must be introduced with at least 18 months’ notice of any restrictions that might be due to come into force, with more polluting vehicles among those to be phased out fi rst.


Some businesses within the waste sector have already begun responding to greater demand for low emission operations, including the London and southern England-based Grundon, which is involved in the CarbonNeutral fl eet certifi cation scheme, aimed at reaching net-zero vehicle emissions from its fl eet.


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