The Hazardous Waste Forum today announced the membership and terms of reference of the new Monitoring Treatment and Capacity Task Force.
The group will be responsible for ensuring there are sufficient waste management facilities to manage hazardous waste “in an environmentally sound manner” in the short and medium term.
Capacity
One of its key roles will be to monitor the progress of planned capacity for hazardous waste treatment. A draft terms of reference released for comments by Forum members suggested the new group should “review and advise on” the capacity needs for hazardous wastes both in the short term (July 2004, when landfill co-disposal ends) and the “medium term” (July 2005).
It should also indicate what facilities are needed, where they are needed, and potential storage needs, the draft document said. And it will update estimates for hazardous waste arisings in future.
On the subject of monitoring facilities, it explained: “Clearly, hazardous waste market investment decisions can be commercially confidential, however it is important that, as far as possible, the task force obtains this information… the Task Force will need full cooperation of the waste management industry and data on planning from the Environment Agency.”
Model
The Task Force will follow up the work of the Hazardous Waste Forum treatment and capacity subgroup, which has already produced a model of capacity needs after co-disposal.
Provisional members of the Task Force are:
- Waste management industry: Gev Eduljee (SITA), Gill Weeks (Cleanaway)
- CIWM: Keith Roberts, Dave Reynolds
- Cement industry: Dick Boarder (Castle Cement)
- Hazardous waste producers: Rita Singh (Construction Products Association), Roger Cresswell (Oil Recycling Association)
- Regulator: Roy Watkinson (Environment Agency)
- Environmental Industries: Jonathan Davies (Enviros)
- Government: Stephen Horrax (DEFRA)
The Task Force's first meeting will be on November 28, 2003.
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