Achieving strong and sustainable growth is one the stated priorities of the Treasury; its aim is to ensure the UK can maintain steady economic growth which will enable the nation to prosper. But economic growth must also be sustainable for the planet. Growth at the expense of the climate or our natural capital is not sustainable environmentally, and in the long run, won’t be sustainable economically.
We believe that the resource and waste management industry is integral to enabling truly sustainable growth in the UK; stable economic growth which values our natural capital and is decoupled from environmentally unsustainable patterns of consumption. This is why ESA have published a new report, ‘Delivering Sustainable Growth: How the Resource and Waste Management Industry Benefits People, the Environment and the Economy’.
Sustainable growth
Though small compared to some sectors, the resource and waste management industry punches above its weight to help deliver economic growth. The industry has an annual turnover of £11bn, and has grown steadily over the past few years, despite difficult circumstances. We support 106,000 jobs across waste and recycling, which are spread out across the country, boosting local economies. We export around £5bn worth of recovered materials each year, and generate nearly £450m electricity from waste each year. For each tonne of waste we treat, we create approximately £40 of Gross Added Value. We estimate that a further £10bn investment in the sector would create 50,000 new jobs and boost GDP by £3bn.
Environment
And the growth we are achieving is sustainable for the environment too. We have helped increase recycling from near zero in the 1990s to almost 45% today. Whilst the rate of increase has stalled over the past few years, we must recognise that this is a significant achievement.
Where it’s not technically, environmentally or economically practical to recycle, we also recover energy from waste. Through technology such as Energy from Waste, Anaerobic Digestion, and landfill gas recovery, the industry currently makes up 12% of the UK’s renewable electricity, and has worked to reduce its emissions by 70% since 1990, and therefore play its part in mitigating climate change.
Skills
Not only is the industry good for the environment and the economy, but it also works for the benefit of its people. The 106,000 jobs the industry supports cover a range of skills levels, increasingly at the higher end as more advanced technologies are deployed. The sector has developed a range of apprenticeships and training courses in order to equip its workers with the ever more sophisticated skills required by the industry.
As well as developing skills, the industry has also worked to protect its workers form the inherent health and safety risks that come with the job. ESA Members have seen accidents and injuries decrease by 52.3% since 2009. Whilst there is still some way to go to meet the industry’s ambition of zero harm, ESA Members are working hard to raise health and safety standards, which we hope will be replicated across the industry.
Sustainability
There is clearly much to celebrate within the industry. However, today there are some significant barriers that threaten to reverse the industry’s successes. The government must intervene to ensure we can continue to help deliver green growth in the UK.
In our report, we make four recommendations that would improve incentives across the supply chain, drive efficiencies, reduce costs — particularly to local government — and deliver much-needed private investment.
These recommendations focus on:
Developing resilient recovery markets for waste-derived products
Stimulating the demand for recycled content in products is crucial at a time when reprocessed material is struggling to compete with virgin material. Green public procurement measures, tax incentives and eco-labelling would help pull more recyclable materials out of landfill in a way that ensures recycling remains economic as we reach higher recycling rates.
Introducing a new framework for producer responsibility
Existing Extended Producer Responsibility schemes are failing to produce secondary materials of consistent quality, and a review is much needed to see how they can better encourage recyclability and use of recycled content.
Improving the efficiency of waste collection systems and infrastructure
The current patchwork of local authority waste management delivery creates wide-spread duplication and therefore there is a huge scope for efficiency savings. The government’s devolution and cities agenda presents an opportunity to create a more joined-up approach to waste management between local authorities, which would increase economies of scale and yield an overall reduction in system costs.
Driving waste crime out of the sector
Waste crime is a serious problem for the industry as it undermines legitimate business. Alongside the funding announced by HM Treasury in last year’s Autumn Statement and the 2016 Budget, a new settlement for regulation of the sector should be introduced which increases penalties for those who flout the law, while reducing burdens on legitimate operators.
We believe that tackling these areas will create the right climate to attract much needed investment into the sector, which will help deliver economic growth, thousands of new jobs and a greener, cleaner Britain.
Register for free to comment