One call comes in the latest publication from Biffa, Future Perfect, which is a detailed analysis of waste production and disposal in the UK today which also looks at what might happen over the next 20 years. The second report comes from lobby group the Green Alliance which brought its proposed publication date forward from later this week in a bid to make a two-pronged attack on government thinking ahead of the Strategy Unit waste report due out in November.
The Green Alliance is arguing that householders should be penalised and that the Landfill Tax should be increased substantially and action taken against householders who fail to separate out recyclables from their waste.
The Green Alliance report, Creative Policy Packages for Waste: Lessons for the UK advocates the banning of recyclables from landfill and restrictions on the construction of new incinerators.
Crisis in five years
Biffa warns that waste management “will be in crisis in five years and cost the UK economy an additional 2 billion per year.”
Development director Peter Jones said: “The operational chaos resulting from the fridge recycling debacle is just the tip of the iceberg and if we don’t get our house in order, we face more of the same.”
The book, which can be seen in part at the Biffa website. details the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving this sustainable future and outlines the blueprints for that achievement.
“UK waste management is in the foothills of development,” he said. “75% of household, commercial and industrial waste is thrown into holes in the ground – this at a time when the disposal of hazardous waste is the public’s number one environmental concern, greater even than traffic congestion and climate change.
“Doing nothing is not an option. By 2020 instead of being left to rot in the ground in perpetuity, most of our waste will have to be processed on an industrial scale using advanced technology – possible in hours and definitely within three weeks – to neutralise it. Without the facilities to handle this we will have a crisis on our hands. Frustratingly, the technology already exists, but who will invest in the infrastructure while there are conflicting policies and imprecise financial signals towards waste coupled with a bewildered and confused general public who all want to do their bit, but don’t know how?”
Urgent reform
Future Perfect proposes a sea change in attitudes and an industrial revolution for the waste industry. In outlining the available options and the trade-offs between different methods of waste treatment, it sends a clear message of urgent reform to government, waste producers and the public, backed by an impressive body of references covering the latest sources of academic research in this area. Importantly it argues that it is for economic rather than technological reasons that the UK fails to win value from waste.
And, Mr Jones warns that if the UK fails to reach recycling targets and other requirements of the Landfill Directive it faces infraction proceedings in the European Court.
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