10th October 2013
Talking to Radio 4’s ‘Costing the Earth’ programme about landfill mining and the resources that have been embedded in landfill sites over the last 50 years, followed by a meeting where we contemplated the future of the waste sector in a sustainable resource economy, has given me an opportunity to reflect. Looking back and understanding what we as a society
4th September 2013
Of the materials that we discard in our bins every week, two in particular are of concern – food and glass. When landfilled, food waste decomposes to release greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. Defra’s delivery arm, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), runs programmes to reduce food waste (the Love Food Hate Waste campaign) and to divert
6th August 2013
Scotland is gearing up for the implementation of the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 with a strong communications and awareness-raising drive. From 1 January 2014, local authorities and businesses will be required to comply with new legal duties relating to the separate collection of dry recyclables and of food waste, and further treatment of residual waste before it is sent for
25th June 2013
The Local Government Association’s report Wealth from Waste has been received positively by commentators in both the public and private sectors, an indication that we could be approaching convergence on the outlines of a strategy to power the circular economy. Broadly, they involve introducing “push” levers to get more waste out of landfill (though the Local Government Association’s report is somewhat
20th June 2013
Recent reports in the trade press of the difficulties experienced by plastics recycling facilities in England and Wales should come as a warning to policy-makers who base their waste management strategies on ever-higher materials recycling targets, while at the same time placing a ceiling on the percentage of waste sent to energy recovery. A successful recycling-based strategy requires all elements
17th April 2013
April 2013 opens a new chapter in the UK’s efforts to divert waste from landfill, with the end of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS). The Scheme was introduced in 2005 and, in design, paralleled the market-based compliance scheme that applies to packaging waste – the Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system. Schemes of this sort suited the UK’s “just enough
30th July 2012
The potential for green growth in the UK is significant as we transform from landfilling the majority of our waste to the more sustainable options of recycling and recovering energy from it. For this change to be realised, around £20 billion needs to be invested over the next ten years in modern technology and infrastructure. If we manage to achieve
28th May 2012
Watching Dirty Britain on ITV1 during the last couple of weeks really opens your eyes to Britain’s unsung heroes and another world of filth and grime which we – the public – generate, yet are often happy to ignore. What struck me was the professionalism and dedication of all those featured, especially those who carry out the most stomach-churning of
22nd May 2012
With 29 million tonnes of active waste still going to landfill in the UK, the concept of zero waste seems a long way off. Our industry estimates that the cost of transition to a more resource efficient future is between £10 and £20 billion. Any investment in this area relies heavily on the continued landfill tax increases imposed by the
