The consultation, set to end on June 7, will culminate in the publication of strategy entitled Waste Minimisation in Development Projects later in the summer.
” This will not only benefit the environment but should, we believe, be cost neutral to developers and dramatically reduce the volume of material hauled round our roads.“
– Cllr Charles Gillams, Gloucestershire CC
The document will ensure as much recycling as possible is achieved during demolition and construction work and that new properties built in the county are properly kitted up to recycle waste.
Gloucestershire's project, which is a joint process between the county and district councils, will eventually lead to the requirement to recycle a minimum of 10% of construction waste on strategic sites.
Developers will be required to submit a waste minimisation statement as part of their planning application and must be committed to implement it during the development, the county council has said.
And, new houses will need to be provided with recycling boxes and composting bins, with information packs made available to new occupants covering waste and recycling services.
“Cost neutral”
Charles Gillams, lead cabinet member for environment at Gloucestershire, said: “Minimising or re-using waste generated through site development will reduce the amount of waste that has to be managed and disposed of. This will not only benefit the environment but should, we believe, be cost neutral to developers and dramatically reduce the volume of material hauled round our roads.
“We want to know what people think of this approach, are we going too far, or not far enough?” Cllr Gillams added.
Gloucestershire county council has said that following the completion of the consultation period it hopes to implement this new strategy by August.
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The county council is also currently putting together a Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy – the strategy will ultimately detail plans for a proposed technology for dealing with the county's waste.
Residents in Gloucestershire produce 310,000 tonnes of waste every year, a large amount of this will need to be diverted from landfill in order to meet government set landfill diversion targets.
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