London boroughs are to help particularly small businesses in reaching a proposed 70% recycling or re-use target for the capital's commercial and industrial waste by 2020 under the plan.
– Ken Livingstone
With 88% of the city's businesses employing fewer than 10 staff, the new London business waste strategy – entitled Making waste work in London: The Mayor’s Draft Business Waste Management Strategy – proposes requiring councils to provide similar recycling services for businesses as offered to their residents.
This would include “commercially competitive” trade waste collections recycling materials that are collected on household kerbside recycling schemes. And, recycling centres would have to take business waste free of charge.
The development of new municipal waste treatment infrastructure by the boroughs would also be expected to include capacity for non-municipal wastes.
London produces over 18 million tonnes of waste every year, an amount forecast to rise to 23.6 million tonnes by 2020 – three quarters of which arises from businesses. Around 44% of London's business waste is recycled at the moment.
The new strategy, which is open to informal comments until June 29, states that non-recyclable wastes should be used to make waste-derived fuels or used to generate energy – but not by incineration.
A full, formal public consultation is scheduled for the autumn, with the completed strategy expected to be adopted in 2008.
Waste authority
As he unveiled the strategy on Friday, the Mayor revealed that he is still pushing for a city-wide waste disposal authority under his control, to co-ordinate waste disposal services throughout the 33 boroughs.
Lord Whitty – Defra's ministerial representative in the Lords until 2005 – has put forward an amendment to the GLA Bill, which has passed through the Commons and is now progressing through the Lords – seeking to establish such an authority.
Unveiling the new business waste strategy, Mr Livingstone said: “My vision is that by 2020 the waste produced by London’s businesses no longer compromises London’s future as a sustainable city. However, I am very much limited in what I can do to manage waste in London. If we had a Single Waste Disposal Authority for the capital I would be able to ensure that more business waste is recycled or used as a source of renewable energy.”
Policies
The new business waste strategy for London is centred around five main policy proposals:
- Recycling targets for commercial and industrial waste of at least 70% by 2020; for construction, demolition and excavation of 95% by 2020; And, generating energy-from-waste from remaining non-recyclable waste without using incineration.
- Waste treatment facilities to be developed by the Mayor and partner organisations to manage 75% of London's waste within London by 2010, rising to 80% by 2015 and 85% by 2020.
- Information and advice to be provided to businesses to allow them to use their resources more productively and manage their waste sustainably.
- Awareness of resource productivity, sustainable waste transport and sustainable waste management among London's businesses to bring “positive and permanent behavioural change”.
- GLA Group to lead by example – the Mayor, the GLA and the LDA as well as London's police, fire and transport organisations will encourage businesses by taking responsibility for their own waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy.
The strategy also details proposals to carry out these policies, including measures to boost the collection of business waste for recycling, encourage the reprocessing of that material as well as expanding the markets for recycled materials.
Infrastructure
Local authorities will be key to the collection of trade waste for recycling, with the Mayor stating his expectation that they will offer small businesses similar access to recycling services as their residents. This includes the expansion of organic kitchen waste collections to include small businesses.
Organisations like the London Development Agency will be tasked to help bring in investment for new reprocessing facilities – it is to launch a three-year 6 million fund to lever in investment for recycling infrastructure. Through business support services like the Mayor's Green Procurement Plan, the LDA will also drive markets for recycled materials by promoting the purchasing of recycled products.
The Mayor suggests setting up a special vehicle to act as a trading hub for recycled materials in the capital, while Transport for London will promote the “early adoption” of engine technologies using waste-derived fuels. With its Freight Plan, TfL is also to look into the logistics of transporting business waste for recycling.
Businesses
For London's businesses themselves, the Mayor proposes to set up a business council to bring business leaders together to champion resource productivity and draw up sector-specific action plans. Mr Livingstone is also keen for businesses to carry out waste audits from which waste minimisation, recycling and re-use systems can emerge.
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The strategy firmly backs the concept of producer responsibility, in which manufacturers take responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products, with the Mayor pledging to lobby government for new producer responsibility measures to be statutory rather than voluntary.
A conference is to be held for producers and grocery retailers to discuss the production and sale of materials that cannot be recycled or composted in London, such as cartons, the strategy said. The LDA will also produce guidance to help producers design out waste from their products.
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