Government not minded to introduce landfill bans

The government has today (September 8) ruled out introducing material-specific landfill bans in England “at this stage” and said it will instead consider how to achieve its zero waste goals within the ongoing waste policy review.

However, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has said that it remains committed to introducing the bans, and would look to introduce the bans for some materials if the National Assembly of Wales gave it the power to do so.

This government is not minded to introduce further landfill restrictions in England at this stage,

 
Lord Henley, Defra recycling minister

The Defra position was contained within a raft of other statements on England's achievement of EU landfill diversion goals, and comes in response to the consultation jointly launched by the previous Labour government and the WAG in March 2010 on potential bans for nine materials (see letsrecycle.com story).

In its response, the government noted that concerns had been raised among the 140 respondents to the consultation “about how restrictions or bans might work in practice and whether they are affordable”.

It also highlighted what it said was “widespread support” from respondents for landfill tax as the key driver for diverting waste from landfill, and noted the fact that there was now a floor under the levy until 2020.

And, as a result, recycling minister Lord Henley today said: “This government is not minded to introduce further landfill restrictions in England at this stage, but will consider how best to make progress towards the objective of zero waste to landfill as part of the Review of Waste Policies, due to conclude in Spring 2011.”

In the consultation response, Defra explained that the review, which was formally launched by environment secretary Caroline Spelman in July 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story), “will consider the issues raised in this consultation to ensure waste is dealt with in the most appropriate way in accordance with the waste hierarchy”.

“The review will explore the best ways of collecting, recycling and treating waste so as [to] divert it from landfill,” it added.

Questions have been asked about just how landfill bans would operate on the ground since the then-environment secretary Hilary Benn announced the consultation on restrictions earlier this year, with industry concerns over issues such as enforcement and infrastructure (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, since the coalition government took power, Mr Benn has continued to support the introduction of bans, and, while the decision is likely to be welcomed by groups such as councils who urged a cautious approach (see letsrecycle.com story), others have proved more supportive of bans, with organics recycling body AfOR yesterday reiterating its support for restrictions (see letsrecycle.com story).

Wales

We all know that landfill is the most environmentally damaging option for waste, which is why the Measure, if passed, will allow us to ban certain materials from landfill and ensure that we significantly increase our recycling rates

 
Jane Davidson, Welsh environment minister

The Welsh Assembly Government's response to the consultation claimed that “despite the reservations expressed, a majority of respondents felt there was a case for the introduction of landfill restrictions”.

And, outlining its support for restrictions, it said: “The Welsh Assembly Government believes that landfill restrictions or bans have a role to play, as part of a balanced set of policy measures, in delivering the ambitious targets set out in our overarching waste strategy document for Wales, ‘Towards Zero Waste'.

The WAG's proposals to be given the power to introduce landfill bans are one of four policy actions contained within the Waste (Wales) Measure, which was introduced to the National Assembly by Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson in February 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Ms Davidson commented today: “We all know that landfill is the most environmentally damaging option for waste, which is why the Measure, if passed, will allow us to ban certain materials from landfill and ensure that we significantly increase our recycling rates.

“This will drive us towards waste management practices that are much more sustainable and help us to reduce both our ecological and carbon footprints.”

Responses

Providing a breakdown of the responses received in the consultation, the Defra/WAG document revealed that, of the 138 respondents who gave an opinion on whether there was a case for landfill bans, 70 said ‘yes', 41 responded ‘no', with 27 offering an alternative response.

But, it also claimed that, within the 128 respondents to a question on what difficulties and issues there would be in implementing material-specific bans, “a common response was that landfill bans would be impractical and unenforceable”.

In particular, it said key issues raised by respondents included:

• lack of infrastructure to deal with waste diverted from landfill;
• uncertainty and concerns over who would enforce the bans and how this would be funded;
• the difficulty in complying with a ‘full' landfill ban;
• the potential for recyclate markets to be “flooded” with material and for it to be low quality;
• difficulties over recycling composite materials if they were banned from landfill;
• the potential to move waste to energy-from-waste;
• the impact on existing council contracts and the costs for local authorities;
• a need for a “last resort” contingency plan for wastes.

Lead-in times

The document also reveals the most popular lead-in time for any bans among respondents was 7-10 years – the same period backed by consultancy Eunomia in research that accompanied the launch of the original consultation (see letsrecycle.com story).