Benn: Planet cannot cope with consumption levels

Speaking to the waste and recycling sector in London, Mr Benn contrasted the consumption levels of goods and products in the UK with levels in the developing world.

Mr Benn, who previously had responsibility for international development, spoke of the importance of waste reduction and also the need to ensure that products were designed in a way that helped minimise their impact on the environment.

He said: “The truth is that there are limits to the planet's ability to cope with the impact of consumption on the scale we are seeing.”

And, he also stressed the importance of not only tackling the municipal waste stream but also looking at business waste as well.

Mr Benn reminded his audience at the “Waste and Recycling – What Next?” event in London that the government had allocated local authorities £2 billion in PFI credits and that these would prove very important in helping to deliver the greater waste infrastructure needed in the UK.

He highlighted the Waste Infrastructure Programme – which provided £11 million to build new facilities as another example of the government's financial commitment to waste infrastructure. Mr Benn said: “Government recognises the importance of that support and providing it to local authorities.”

Packaging

During his speech, the Secretary of State touched on packaging waste recycling, indicating that tougher targets lie ahead for some materials, notably aluminium. “We are not doing very well with the recycling of cans,” he said.

Mr Benn questioned the current level of recycling – 32.5% for aluminium packaging as a whole in 2006, but a little higher for aluminium cans themselves. He later discussed this with the audience and the fact that the UK might only reach 42% recycling rate by 2012.

The response was that there were issues with data, but general acceptance that the aluminium can sector had much more to do.

Mr Benn was also tackled on the issue of furniture recycling during questions after the event. Paul Smith of FRN raised how much furniture was being wasted because not all councils had an effective collection service. The Secretary of State endorsed the idea of local authorities collecting efficiently from households before furniture had been dumped outside and recalled how this was a problem for local authorities.

AD

The Secretary of State again stressed his favour for the use of anaerobic digestion for both local authorities and industry to use to deal with organic waste, especially food waste.

He said opportunities were emerging from the agricultural sector because of the Nitrates Directive, on which Defra closed a consultation last month. When implemented, the Directive will restrict farmers to storing slurry on fields to certain times of the year, to avoid pollution of waterways.

Mr Benn suggested that an alternative use for surplus organic material could be as an AD feedstock and said he was keen to work with the waste sector and draw on its expertise to make this happen.

He added: “It seems this is a really positive example of where we bring together needs of different parts of our economy. By thinking more broadly, we can produce something that benefits a lot of people.”

The government will also be looking at the use of refuse-derived fuel in co-fired power stations, he said, and the possibility of including such a use within the Renewable Obligations Certificates scheme. He also explained that Defra is considering a “capital allowance” for combined heat and power facilities, so RDF can be used in them.