The proposed membership will bring a diverse range of environmental stakeholders together, from the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and the Environmental Services Association (ESA), to Friends of the Earth and the Green Alliance. They will be joined by representatives from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Department of Trade and Industry and the Environment Agency.
Discussions
Announcing the forum yesterday, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said: “I do not want this forum simply to be a talking shop. I want it to be focused and to deliver concrete advice on the way ahead to achieve hazardous waste reduction and environmentally sound management of wastes. All members must be prepared to enter discussions fully and openly, to provide information on facilities and future plans.”
The forum's first task will be to advise on hazardous waste reduction and management over the next five years. By July 2003, it must give advice on what decisions must be made and suggest hazardous waste targets, in view of existing and forthcoming legislation.
Data
The forum will also provide current, reliable data on hazardous waste production and management and advise the Environment Agency and the Government when they issue guidance on legislation.
Chief executive of trade association the ESA, Dirk Hazell, welcomed the forum announcement. “ESA has consistently pointed to the need for national action on management of hazardous wastes,” he said. “We hope the new hazardous waste advisory forum will provide the reliable data and identify the regulatory certainty our members need.”
A likely early topic of debate for members will be the risk posed by hazardous landfill between the end of co-disposal and the introduction of the Waste Acceptance Criteria, which have still not been agreed by Europe.
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