Dr Jane Beasley, who has just become a visiting professor at University College Northampton, said in her inaugural speech last night that the current review of Waste Strategy 2000 should seek stronger measures to divert more material from landfill.
She said the waste management industry is just beginning to progress from its “teenage years” – a period of “experimentation, naivety, success and failure” – and now the industry needed to become entrepreneurial, building on experience and lessons learned.
”Although the costs of activity may be high, the costs of inactivity are just as high.“
– Prof Jane Beasley, UCN
Dr Beasley was part of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, whose 2002 Waste Not Want Not report ultimately led to the establishment of Defra's WIP and the wider remit for the government's key quango on waste, WRAP.
Review
The government is reviewing its Waste Strategy until the end of this month, and is expected to issue a revised Waste Strategy for further consultation later this year before a new Waste Strategy 2006 is eventually published.
Dr Beasley said: “Waste Not Want Not aimed to bridge the wide gap between central policymaking and work on the ground. Two years into the programme, progress has been made. But there is only one year left of guaranteed funding – and that means a great deal of uncertainty.”
Having a general election in the middle of a major review was also adding to the uncertainty for the future of waste, she added.
Leadership
What is needed in the nation's waste strategy, she said, is joined-up thinking, clear leadership, closer working between stakeholders and more confidence for private investors in new infrastructure.
Dr Beasley warned that a “focus on municipal waste management and success in some milestones has led to problems in developing a truly integrated approach”. Her suggestions for the new waste strategy included:
- Mandatory source separation at the household level;
- Direct or variable charging for household waste;
- Continued research and development in all waste streams;
- Fully apply the polluter pays principle;
- Residual waste targets to help promote waste reduction and re-use;
- National prevention, re-use and recycling targets for all controlled wastes;
- Implementation of sector-specific targets on waste.
Dr Beasley warned that the government's 40% municipal waste recovery target for 2005/06 would be impossible to achieve without additional capacity. She said clear policy direction was needed on all waste treatment and disposal options “specifically the dreaded 'I' word”.
She warned that unless the government stops the “firefighting” approach to waste management, and looks to the future, the UK's fridge mountain problems could return in other waste streams including televisions and hazardous waste.
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“What we do need to think about,” Dr Beasley said, “is that although the costs of activity may be high, the costs of inactivity are just as high”.
Dr Beasley has been appointed visiting professor of waste strategy and policy at UCN, which is home to the world's largest waste management library – the 1.5 million SITA Environmental Library. Having previously worked for the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, Dr Beasley runs an environmental consultancy called Be Environmental.
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