The outlook for 2015

The start of a new year provides us with a time for reflection of past achievements, and an assessment of challenges which may lie ahead. We are now just five years away from the key date in legislative terms, for meeting the headline targets set by the existing European policy framework.

This is of course shaped and directed by the policy and regulation established by legislators, both in Brussels and also domestically, but the post-2020 European framework is currently unclear to say the least, and the uncertainty this generates does no good for investment in our industry.

It was therefore disappointing that the Commission chose to withdraw the circular economy package from its 2015 work plan at the end of last year. That withdrawal was however accompanied by a promise to bring back more ambitious proposals by the end of 2015. This must now happen, and those new proposals which are introduced should be complementary to the waste-related targets previously put forward by the outgoing Commission.

As we all know, the resources and waste sector has gone through a period of huge transition in the past decade. The industry has done a fantastic job at moving material off the bottom of the waste hierarchy. We are consigning the landfill-based approach to the past and are developing local authority-backed facilities around the country to ‘fill the hole’. But this is only the beginning of what we could achieve if we realised the full potential of our waste resources. This is why a new European policy package is required, one which is truly circular in its approach.

Market

This means introducing demand-side measures which will stimulate the market conditions we need to maximise the use of our secondary resources. A continuing focus on end-of-pipe targets on their own will not deliver the step change required to overcome our existing linear economic approach.

Therefore, 2015 could be a pivotal year for the future of our industry. But in the meantime there is also much to be done on the home front. Household recycling rates in England continue to stagnate, and some fear they may even reverse if household arisings return to growth. And Local Authority budgets continue to be squeezed at the same time. It will therefore be vital that authorities work with their private sector partners to find ways in which we can improve environmental performance and maintain service levels to householders – both for reduced budgets. It’s going to be a tough challenge which will require everyone in the sector working together.

Unfortunately, the UK still sends around 17 million tonnes of mixed waste to landfill. The Green Investment Bank has estimated that we are currently heading for a shortfall in treatment capacity of up to seven million tonnes. How we finance and develop this infrastructure in a post-PFI/PPP context will be a key question for the sector which will have to be resolved, if not this year then in the very near future.

We hope that May’s election won’t lead to a complete shutdown in government activity, as 2015 could be a year when we move decisively forward on the resources agenda, both at home and in Europe. Let’s not waste the opportunity with yet more delays and uncertainty.