banner small

Government team seeks step change in municipal waste market

A joint initiative from Defra and the Office of Government Commerce is underway looking into competition and capacity issues in the local authority waste management market.

The work is the second initiative from the team led by Sir Christopher Kelly, following the 2003 report on the government market. The new “Kelly Market Team” has been set up to focus on the municipal waste and healthcare waste management sector.


” This work will be key to enabling a step change in the waste management industry.“
– John Enright, Defra

The Team is looking into concerns regarding the accessing of capital for new waste treatment facilities, capacity issues in the supplier market and the lack of cohesion between collection and disposal authorities.

Key outcomes of the Kelly review are a more responsive market, greater security of supply, reduced dependency on a limited group of key suppliers and increased competition.

It is hoped the initiative will ultimately help local authorities achieve their Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme targets and achieve efficiency improvements.

Step change
Writing to local authority stakeholders last week, Defra's Local Authority Support Unit head John Enright said: “This work will be key to enabling a step change in the waste management industry and is endorsed by the Regional Centres of Excellence, Defra, the Local Government Association and the Office of Fair Trading.”

The first step has been a questionnaire sent out to local authorities with which the Kelly Market Team hopes to gain a better understanding of the current and future demand for waste services and waste treatment facilities.

Related links:

OGC: Second Kelly Review

Defra: Local Authority Support Unit

From this, the team aims to draw up a collective picture that should reveal where more strategic approaches can be made in the municipal waste market, and should provide some information on capacity shortfalls.

Consultancy Mott MacDonald is to carry out the data collection and analysis on behalf of the Kelly Market Team.

Register for free to comment

Subscribe to receive our newsletters and to leave comments.

The Blog Box

Back to top

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest waste and recycling news straight to your inbox.

Subscribe