Dr O’Brien also suggested that some companies were operating “local monopolies” and that these firms were unfairly forcing up prices charged to local authorities for waste disposal.
Acknowledging that while there has been some consolidation within the industry, Dr O’Brien said: “The reality in many parts of the country is that the combination of transport costs and gate prices mean that there are local monopolies.”
She was speaking at the Institute of Wastes Management annual conference in Torbay where she said that one solution to the “local monopolies” would be the creation of a financial regulator for the sector. And, this could also help in parts of the country where, in contrast, prices were too low and discouraged investment in recovery routes such as recycling.
Dr O’Brien said: “Setting a minimum and maximum gate price for each type of method of waste management solution could help the financial planning for future facilities and a separate regulator would probably be needed, OFWAST perhaps.”
The new president also appeared to endorse energy from waste as having an important role within the UK. She criticised “green pressure groups” for thinking that waste can be handled by high levels of recycling whereas “this isn’t justified by the situation in other European states.” And, she noted that “green pressure groups and the empowered public” don’t understand the scale of risk associated with waste plants. “The understanding of scale of risk in comparison with other everyday activities such as driving a car often appears to be lacking.”
Dr O'B;rien's suggestion that a financial regulator might be imposed on the industry brought a swift response. One senior waste industry figure told letsrecycle that this was “tantamount to market interference and could lead to serious concerns about long-term investment.”
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