Lifestyles must change – is message for Lancashire

The 15 local authorities in Lancashire are carrying out a consultation exercise with residents following publication of the draft municipal waste management strategy for Lancashire. The message to residents is similar to that from Wyre District Council, for example, “that much more of our waste will need to be recycled or composted. This will have a significant affect on all of our lifestyles.” And the authority is predicting a rise in Council Tax to meet the local and national strategy requirements. The 15 local authorities in Lancashire have all been working together to find a solution to Lancashire's waste mountain. A plan has now been produced called 'The Draft Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Lancashire'. This ambitious strategy will mean major changes in household habits and the way in which waste is dealt with in Lancashire. The development of the strategy will however have cost implications for householders, which will result in an increase in Council Tax payments, which are detailed in the draft strategy document. The key proposals of Lancashire's strategy are: – 90% of households in Lancashire to have a segregated refuse collection service by 2005. This will mean collecting recyclable materials such as paper, textiles, cans and glass separately from garden waste and general household rubbish. – The amount of waste recycled or composted to be increased to 32% by 2010. This target will apply not just to your household waste, but also to all waste generated by the local authority itself. – The amount of waste material to be tipped at landfill sites is to be reduced by 80% by 2010. – Energy recovery is proposed to deal with the waste that cannot be recycled or composted. The plan also includes proposals to plant 2 million trees in Lancashire to reduce the impact of carbon dioxide emissions from the proposed &#39E;nergy from Waste' facility. These proposals will mean the building of new materials recycling facilities (MRFs), centralised composting facilities and an &#39e;nergy from waste' plant in Lancashire. Copies of the Draft Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Lancashire are available at internet: www.lancswasteinfo.com or by post from: Draft Waste Management Strategy, Lancashire County Council, FREEPOST, (PR 844), Preston PR1 3BR.