Plan ahead for climate change, waste sector warned

Head of waste Liz Parkes told industry professionals at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) conference last week that they had to be prepared for changes caused by extreme weather.

” People will become “increasingly angry” about high carbon emissions, forcing the industry to “look at itself more carefully”.
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– John Gummer
And former environment minister John Gummer MP, speaking at the same conference, told delegates that climate change will thrust waste minimisation into the public eye.

Risk

Ms Parkes said rising temperatures, greater seasonal variations in groundwater levels, higher frequency of heavy winter rainfall events, stormier and hotter conditions and flooding from rivers and a sea level rise, could all cause problems for waste management.

One quarter of the 9,000 waste management sites in England and Wales are currently located in areas of low or medium flood risk, she said, adding that this proportion could increase. She said: “Do we keep our fingers crossed and hope it doesn't rain too much, or do we do something about it?”

Flooded roads could restrict access for refuse collection vehicles, she suggested, as well as emergency vehicles in the event of a major incident.

Ms Parkes also said there could be increased complaints about odours and warned: “How much will the waste smell if it is left sitting for weeks on end in hot temperatures? What about the health and safety of drivers sitting in hot cabs?”

“There are issues over how all this affects the public and if we are faced with water restrictions, this will have an added impact.

“Have we actually thought about what would happen if the infrastructure shut down? We should be planning ahead. This is an industry which needs to be ready. We all need to adapt and learn to live with uncertainty.”

Incidents of slope erosion and instability, for example at landfill sites, could also become be more frequent with higher rainfalls, she said. This might require engineers to design more robust surfaces and new management systems for controlling leachate.

Gummer

In his speech, Suffolk Coastal MP John Gummer said that as people become more aware of carbon and climate change, they will become “increasingly angry” about high carbon emissions, forcing industry to “look at itself more carefully”.

He referred to the decision by some consumer companies, such as Walkers and PepsiCo, to label their products with an individual carbon count, and said he believed this would raise the profile of waste minimisation among the public.

In the week before the Budget, the Conservative back-bencher also told the audience he believed the government was going about “pay as you throw” schemes the wrong way.

Instead of telling people to pay more for throwing their rubbish away, he said ministers should offer tax discounts to those who throw away less.

He said, if this was to happen people would be “polishing the microchips” fitted in bins by local authorities instead of digging them out.

Mr Gummer believes waste minimisation is vital to tackling climate change. He said: “Climate change is the result of our own inefficiency and wastefulness because we do not take into account how we use our resources.”