Draft waste strategy for East Midlands unveiled

The East Midlands produces over 20 million tonnes of waste each year, which is predicted to rise to 23.8 million tonnes per annum by 2021. Around 48% of this comes from commercial and industrial sources, 38% from construction/demolition and 14% from households.

”It is no longer possible, practical or appropriate for us to continue to dispose of over 80% of the East Midlands' waste by burying it in landfill “
– Cllr John Bull
Covering 46 local authorities in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland, the Assembly's strategy will assist with the planning of waste services for over 4 million people.

The region spends over 400 million on waste management every year, but with 10 years of consented landfill space remaining, the strategy warns that these costs could rise dramatically without action.

Announcing the start of a consultation on the strategy, the Assembly's environment group chair Cllr John Bull said: “It is no longer possible, practical or appropriate for us to continue to dispose of over 80% of the East Midlands' waste by burying it in landfill sites.

“If we fail to change the way we produce and manage waste, the costs and impacts, both economic and environmental, will also continue to rise,” Cllr Bull added.

Targets
The targets set by the East Midlands Regional Waste Strategy include:

• A zero growth rate in municipal waste by 2016
• A municipal waste recycling rate of 25% by 2005, 30% by 2010 and 50% by 2015 in the region
• A limit of 7.5 million tonnes of waste arisings each year from the commercial/ industrial sector by 2021
• A limit of 276,000 tonnes of hazardous waste arisings each year by 2021
• A limit of 7.5 million tonnes per annum for construction/demolition waste each year by 2021.

The strategy focuses on dealing with nine particular issues – behavioural change; commercial/industrial resource efficiency; hazardous waste; municipal waste; procurement and market development; construction/demolition waste; regional growth; agricultural waste; and, reducing fly-tipping.

Comments are invited on the Consultation Draft Regional Waste Strategy to be received by April 14 2005. It will then be revised based on the comments received and the final version is expected to be issued in June 2005.