Environment secretary David Miliband has published a new strategy for cutting waste.
Defra annnounced that this would be an essential part of the drive to tackle climate change, with landfilled waste a major source of methane, while reducing and recycling waste saves energy and raw materials.
Following calls from local authorities, the government is also launching a parallel public consultation on removing the ban on local authorities introducing financial incentives for recycling. Any such schemes will have to return all revenues back to local residents.
The main points of the waste strategy include:
* More effective incentives for individuals and businesses to recycle waste
* A greater responsibility on businesses for the environmental impact of their products and operations through, for example, a drive to minimise packaging and higher targets for recycling packaging
* Subject to further analysis and consultation, banning biodegradable and recyclable waste from being put into landfill sites
* An increase in the landfill tax escalator by £8 per year from 2008 until at least 2010/11 - announced by the Chancellor in March. Partly as a result of this, business waste landfilled is expected to fall by 20 per cent by 2010 compared with 2004
* Increasing the amount of energy produced by a variety of energy from waste schemes, using waste that can't be reused or recycled. It is expected that from 2020 a quarter of municipal waste - waste collected by local authorities, mainly from households - will produce energy, compared to 10 per cent today
Delivery of the strategy will be overseen by a new Waste Strategy Board, made up of experts from across Whitehall, with two external members. The board will be supported by a Waste Stakeholder Group - to include representatives of the main stakeholder organisations -that will provide advice and act as a critical friend.
No comments yet