Government Policy
Government waste policy has traditionally focused more on household than business waste, despite the commercial and industrial stream representing around twice as much material.
This is largely because the main legislative drivers for keeping waste out of landfill and recycling more relate to household waste. At the same time the business sector has had a relatively good recycling record compared to councils.
However, with the increased importance of factors such as the need to recover more waste to contribute to renewable energy targets and to reduce carbon emissions, government is increasingly seeking to understand and influence business waste management.
England
The coalition government is currently undertaking a wide-ranging review of waste policy in England following its election in May 2010. This review will cover all kinds of waste and is being led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which has responsibility for waste and recycling. Initial findings are due to be published in May 2011 and will replace the Waste Strategy for England 2007, which set out the previous government’s long term vision for waste.
Intended to set out the steps necessary to create a ‘zero waste’ economy, the review will consider whether lessons can be learned from experiences in other parts of the UK and across the EU.
The coalition government agreed in May 2010 to promote a “huge increase” in the production of energy-from-waste through anaerobic digestion and the review will include a plan to achieve this.
Other areas which are being addressed are voluntary producer responsibility deals and new approaches to tackling waste from businesses, as the new government aims to provide more of a policy focus on commercial and industrial waste than was previously the case.
A public consultation which will feed into the review closed on October 7 2010.
Scotland
The Scottish Government published ‘Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan’ in June 2010. This document sets out the Scottish Government's vision for a zero waste society, where waste is treated as a resource. The plan includes landfill bans for specific waste types, separate collections of waste such as food, restrictions on energy-from-waste feedstock and measures to cut the carbon impact of waste.
Under the plan, the commercial waste recycling rate will have to reach 75% by 2025, with just 5% of waste being sent to landfill.
In December 2010, a consultation was launched on what regulatory changes the Scottish Government plans to make to implement its strategy, under the Zero Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2011.
Wales
The Welsh Assembly Government published its long-term waste strategy, ‘Towards Zero Waste’, in June 2010. This sets out a framework for improving resource efficiency in Wales from now until 2050. Measures promoted in the strategy include waste prevention, the separate collection of food waste and kerbside sorting for dry recyclables.
Alongside the strategy, the WAG is developing sector plans to cover: municipal waste; collection, markets and infrastructure; wholesale and retail waste; and, construction and demolition waste. The municipal waste sector plan is the first to be developed and is expected to be published in final form in March 2011 following a consultation in 2010.
The strategy targets a 70% recycling rate for commercial and industrial waste, to be achieved by 2025, with an interim goal of 67% set for 2020.
Northern Ireland
In March 2006, Richard Rogers, of the Northern Irish Department of Environment, launched Towards Resource Management: The Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy 2006 - 2020 at Stormont.
The Waste Management Strategy highlights the need to increase waste recycling and recovery in a number of ways that include recycling targets, awareness campaigns and the possible introduction of incentive schemes.
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