Mr McCracken, chairing the North West Regional Waste Conference in Wigan spoke of the huge increase in municipal waste in the region which is rising at 7%. “We need to tackle the growth of municipal waste in particular and increase the recycling and recovery of waste through recycling, composting and energy from waste.”
He added that this will mean the development of new infrastructure systems and the construction of alternative waste management facilities. And, he pointed out that “the Agency accepts that there is no such thing as completely risk-free waste management.”
The conference, organised by the North West Regional Assembly, also heard from other speakers of the urgent need for change and progress. Peter Greifenberg of consultants Griffin Hill Associates, which has carried out a draft waste survey for the region, said that there were a number of barriers to making progress in waste management. “There is a lack of understanding and so waste management does not have a priority. That issue needs to be addressed, particularly among the decision makers.”
But, some decision-makers (councillors) in the region appear unlikely to take decisions if they fear there is a lack of public support. This was apparent in a question and answer session when the issue of decision-making, over waste sites such as energy from waste in the face of local opposition, was raised. Giving a local authority perspective, and reflecting some of the anxieties of councillors, David Lloyd-Griffiths, the assembly’s Liberal Democrat spokesman for the environment, and a member of Congleton Borough Council, suggested councillors would not be willing to make decisions until pre-emptive work had been carried out to win over public support. He said that new facilities “have to be sold to the public to the point that those taking decisions can feel comfortable doing so.”
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