Call for re-think over London’s self-sufficiency goals for waste

Speaking at a letsrecycle.com live conference in London yesterday (October 8), Stephen Benton, director of the world city division for London Councils, explained that the Greater London Authority was set to revise the city's municipal waste management strategy.

Published in 2003, the original document sought to make London more self-sufficient in managing its own waste (see letsrecycle.com story), after which a target was set in the London Plan for the city to manage 85% of all its own waste by 2020.

However, Mr Benton said London provided economic advantages to its neighbours and was not self sufficient in other respects, such as food, and that waste should be no different.

He said: “The one thing that's potentially controversial is the issue of self-sufficiency.”

“We want a new view on what it means to have self-sufficiency”, he added, claiming that neighbouring regional bodies “don't want our waste but they do want the economic benefits of having London next door.”

Review

Mr Benton's comments came as he outlined the main points that London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) were set to lobby for in the review of the municipal waste strategy by the mayor and GLA.

As well as self-sufficiency, Mr Benton said that “urgent” revisions were needed to the projections for new waste facilities required in the capital – which currently stand at 308 new facilities – and the emphasis on new conversion technologies – for which Ken Livingstone had been a great proponent.

And, he called for “more intelligent target setting”, reflecting London's particular circumstances but also taking advantage of opportunities for performance improvements.

Above all, he said that London Councils was seeking “a less prescriptive, high level strategy focussed on outcomes,” adding that this meant “back off, Mayor.”

LWaRB

Looking at the wider waste and recycling landscape, Mr Benton said that London was at a “cross-roads in waste management” with the formation of the new London Waste and Recycling Board, which met for the first time on September 11 2008 to give a more strategic steer over waste in the capital (see letsrecycle.com story).

The board is expected to help build closer relationships between the GLA and London boroughs, with all but two of its eight members appointed by London Councils, and will manage an £84 million fund to help boost recycling in the capital.

Although it is still to appoint staff and allocate its money, Mr Benton said that the board provided a “huge opportunity for London to show it can do things differently with all parties working together” and that both London Councils and the GLA were pleased about the way it was working.

He added: “The next meeting is just before Christmas and at that point we will have a strategy going forward in spending the £60 million.”

Business case

Also speaking at the event, which looked at comnining a strategic and local approach to recycling and waste management in London, Andrew Lappage, head of waste strategy and contracts at the North London Waste Authority, said he was “very eager to see how the London Waste and Recycling Board emerges in practice as well as in theory.”

Mr Lappage explained that the NLWA – covering the seven London boroughs of Islington, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Barnet, Waltham Forest and Hackney – was currently preparing an Outline Business Case for Defra by the end of October in order to secure waste PFI funding.

He explained that the case was based around a reference project comprising of refurbished CA sites, materials recycling facilities, composting and anaerobic digestion plants, MBT to create fuel, a Combined Heat and Power plant to burn the fuel and a rail or water transport solution.

However, he warned that the project was projected to cost up to £118 million in 2010, £187 million in 2020 and £213 million in 2045 – raising “serious affordability issues.”

He said: “The scale of costs that are facing us in North London are quite substantial. As this project moves forward there are some serious affordability issues hence our bid for PFI funding and concern over landfill tax being revenue neutral.”

South London

Frank Smith, director of the South London Waste Partnership, also told delegates how the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton had managed to procure new waste management services in partnership within a tight deadline of 18 months and were also preparing to embark upon PFI procurement.

Mr Smith explained that the key to a successful partnership was to be apolitical as far as was possible, earn member confidence by giving a clear steer and by getting along.

He said: “Waste is a big service delivery issue…taking political stances in not necessarily helpful to delivering those services.”