Engineering body calls for cross-sector cooperation

A report from an alliance of leading engineering bodies has called on policy-makers to encourage greater cooperation between the waste and other infrastructure sectors, in order to meet challenges predicted between now and 2050.

Published this week (July 15), Engineering the Futures (EtF) Infrastructure Timelines report claims that better planning and alignment of government policy on transport, energy, water, waste and ICT networks is needed if it is to combat U-turns and future problems such as population growth and depleting resources.

The Institution of Chemical Engineering, Institution of Civil Engineers and Royal Academy of Engineering contributed to the waste sector findings, which concluded that waste material could potentially produce rare earths for the energy sector or, detrimentally, contaminate water or cause more runoff at landfill sites.

The report went on to suggest the waste and transport sectors could collaborate to change behaviours on emissions, with increased reliance on transport likely as the removal of hazardous waste or the disposal of material outside local areas continue.

The report also predicted crises unless action is taken due to a need for facilities to treat nuclear waste and a lack of recycling and reuse schemes planned for the first electric vehicle batteries approaching the end of their life in 2015.

Policy

Professor Tim Broyd, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) vice president and chair of the steering group for Infrastructure Timelines, relayed the reports recommendations by calling on the government to utilise the findings to plot current and future policies.

He said: Responsibility for government policy over the five key areas of infrastructure is shared across a number of different government departments.

While there are examples of good cooperation and collaboration, policies are often developed in isolation. Considering the huge demands to be placed on all our infrastructure networks in the future in achieving a low carbon society and responding to pressures such as population growth and their reliance on each other – it is vital that policy development is coordinated and that interdependencies are factored into plans. government departments should also seek to improve communication among regulators and asset owners.

Better coordination and alignment will enable potential problems to be identified and resolved early on, lessening any unintended consequences of isolated policy development and avoiding policy U-turns down the line. Importantly, it will also help Government in planning infrastructure policies that provide the framework for long term economic growth for the UK.

EtF represents 450,000 professional engineers, providing independent advice and promoting understanding of the contribution engineering makes to national policy.