Defra reveals extent of C&I waste challenge

Defra has today (November 10) published figures outlining the extent of the challenge it faces in dealing with commercial and industrial waste in England.

The data, which covers eight English regions for the 2009 calendar year, is set to feed into the government's survey of commercial and industrial waste arisings 2010 – which is the first large-scale assessment of C&I waste arisings since 2002/03.

It shows that commercial and industrial (C&I) waste arisings were estimated at 55.8 million tonnes in 2009. This was comprised of 20.5 million tonnes from the industrial sector and 35.3 million tonnes from the commercial sector.

In total, 58% of C&I waste produced in 2009 was recycled, which compares favourably with the 39.7% household waste recycling rate for 2009/10 revealed last week (see letsrecycle.com story).

When compared to the 2002/03 data, the figures appear to show that industrial waste has declined over the intervening period, while commercial waste arisings have increased. The figures also show a fall in total waste generation since 2002/03.

The 2009 sample covered commercial and industrial businesses, excluding businesses involved in agriculture, mining, quarrying, construction and waste and recycling, alongside information collected in the North West under a separate survey for the 2008/09 financial year. It was decided that this area would not be resurveyed for the Defra project.

Breaking down the data, Defra found that, excluding the North West figures, the majority of C&I waste was treated through a recycling system, which accounted for 24.7 million tonnes of the 48.1 million tonnes of waste. Land disposal was the second most common route, which accounted for 6.8 million tonnes.

Survey

The full sample, which is being carried out by technical services firm Jacobs Engineering UK, is set to cover 6,000 businesses. The final survey is expected to be published in December 2010 in greater detail than the interim results and after being subject to a wider range of “quality assurance”.

Defra has conceded a need to focus greater efforts on C&I waste having previously been accused of focussing its efforts extensively on household and municipal waste, which comprises a relatively smaller proportion of total waste (see letsrecycle.com story).

Under its commercial and industrial waste policy statement published in October 2009, Defra said that it would seek a “greater convergence” between C&I waste and household waste (see letsrecycle.com story).

Commenting on the 2009 figures, a Defra spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “These are provisional statistics, which could change when the final report is published in December. The trend suggests that progress has been made with a fall in commercial and industrial waste from the 2002/03 survey and recycling increased, but we should await the final figures before drawing firm conclusions.”