While local authorities have statutory responsibilities to ensure that all municipal waste is managed properly, there is no statutory duty on any public body to provide the facilities for commercial and industrial waste.
” In some areas there’s a real risk that we won’t get sufficient waste management plants built before existing landfills run out. “
– Alice Roberts, LGA
Councils have the responsibility for planning, which includes planning for facilities to deal with commercial and industrial waste, but it is left to the market to bring forward proposals.
The trouble comes, the LGA believes, because it falls to the private sector to put forward projects for commercial and industrial waste, but they may be reluctant to do so if there is excessive uncertainty over the return on their investment.
Waste management companies can be more secure in the income they will receive through municipal waste contracts, because they are seen as having a more guaranteed income, according to the LGA’s executive officer for waste, Alice Roberts. But, she said, this could leave commercial and industrial waste with nowhere to go.
Costs
Ms Roberts said: “Some authorities are already reporting a problem. Others are more concerned about the rapidly rising costs for local businesses because of landfill, and the lack of alternative facilities. We may be looking at market failure in some parts of the country. The market would have responded to the opportunities in the past, but we can’t be so confident now.”
She added: “That doesn’t mean local authorities want to or should provide facilities themselves – but it does mean we might need to create a more secure environment for the waste industry to invest.”
The LGA is currently consulting with its members to see whether councils – in their unique position – can assist in tackling the problem. Ms Roberts said the consultation tries to begin the debate over how to improve the investment scene for the private sector, and ensure the facilities are built to encourage a sustainable approach to managing all wastes and material resources.
Ms Roberts warned: “In some areas there’s a real risk that we won’t get sufficient waste management plants built before existing landfills run out. We are investigating the extent of this problem.”
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Shortage
Added to this problem is the shortage of waste planning officers within local government, as well as the lack of capacity within the regional planning bodies, known as RTABs, which are virtually unresourced, Ms Roberts said.
The LGA consultation comes as Defra is reviewing England’s waste strategy, a review which is expected to have some implications for non-municipal waste.
Leadership
The LGA consultation suggests ten key areas in which councils could be in a position to do more to take more of a leadership role in the whole waste stream, rather than just in municipal:
- Join-up and improve services for local businesses
- Provide more opportunities for local companies to cut waste
- Work with farmers and sewage managers to cut waste
- Specifying recycled material use in construction projects, require recycling of materials in demolition
- Procurement of sustainable goods, products, services
- Use recycled materials in highways and estates
- Reduce quarrying
- Develop a materials resource strategy to draw together policies and under-pin planning
- Making space available for infrastructure and waste sites
- Link business waste management with municipal waste management
Ms Roberts explained: “We're not saying we need a new duty for local authorities, what we are saying is there is a gap in responsibility here, and local authorities could do more to help.”
The LGA consultation Local Government – Naturally Resourceful: Leading the Way to Better Use of Material Resources runs until July 15.
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