Councils “missing chance” to generate energy from waste

There is clearly scope for councils to go further and be more imaginative and expansive in using their existing powers

 
John Denham

Mr Denham told a Local Action on Climate Change Summit today (November 26) that the government had been working “tirelessly” to tackle emissions both on the domestic and international stage.

However, he said that local action was also needed to help tackle the problem and was paramount in driving change in areas such as housing, planning and transport.

And, he said that developing better use of waste was going to be a crucial part of the country's broader preparations for low-carbon living – claiming that energy from waste in particular had an important role.

He said: “Developing better uses for waste is going to be an essential part of our broader preparations for low-carbon living.

“In fact, taking advantage of new technologies means that much of the ‘waste' present will turn out not to be ‘waste' as we see it at present at all – as it ca be reused to generate energy.”

“Striking variation”

Commenting on the national picture so far, the minister paid credit to councils like Sheffield and Nottingham who had been turning waste into power for years through incineration and others like Stockport which, he said, “used their ‘powers to trade' to generate money from their recycling services”.

However, he highlighted figures published earlier in the year which he said showed a “striking variation” between the most effective and efficient councils and the rest – criticising those who were not generating energy.

He said: “Too many are continuing to send recyclable or compostable waste to landfill and missing the chance to generate heat and energy from waste. This costs council tax payers as well as the planet.”

During his speech, the minister called on councils to tackle climate change through their procurement and transport policies as well.

He said: “There is clearly scope for councils to go further and be more imaginative and expansive in using their existing powers.”

Budgets

At the summit event, Mr Denham also expressed enthusiasm for the development of local carbon budgets – which were first proposed in his department's consultation on strengthening local democracy in July.

He said: “The first step, of course is for councils to reduce emissions from their own estates. Many have already been doing this – looking at what can be done across their building and operations. And we want to see all councils following this lead – getting their own house in order first.

“But we envisage the local carbon budget going further, encompassing other activities in the area which councils can influence, such as local transport, waste and small scale renewable energy schemes,” he added.

Mr Denham explained that the budgets would not be traded but would act as a target, based on councils' own analysis and priorities and on the way that they worked in the local area agreements.

He said that it was too early for carbon budgets to be extended to councils in law but that it was not too early to unlock the potential part that councils could play.