London Board to set up waste dating agency

This fantastic waste 'dating agency' will be vital for anyone who has a great idea for getting energy from our waste or recycling our rubbish

 
Boris Johnson

The Board – which was set up in July 2008 to give a strategic steer over waste in the capital – intends to use its oversight, staff and funding to link up waste producers with site owners, London boroughs and energy users and aims to provide new sites for reuse, recycling and energy from waste facilities.

For instance, it could facilitate links between supermarkets, restaurants and households which produce food and anaerobic digestion facilities which can get the energy from the waste, alongside vehicle fleets which might take the fuel.

The Board is now inviting expressions of interest until April 1.

Mayor Boris Johnson, who is chair of the Board, said: “This fantastic waste 'dating agency' will be vital for anyone who has a great idea for getting energy from our waste or recycling our rubbish – they won't have to wade through endless bureaucracy but can get the expertise and help they need.”

“It will certainly make life easier for innovators with bright new ideas for dealing with recycling and waste to invest in London,” he added.

Business Plan

The LWaRB unveiled its business plan at its last meeting on February 12, where it outlined that intended to allocate £37 million over the coming year (see letsrecycle.com story).

At the meeting, the Board decided that it would focus its efforts on areas it believed could have the most impact, including energy from waste.

Councillor Daniel Moylan, board member and deputy leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, said: “This sort of strategic planning is exactly why London Councils proposed the creation of the London Waste and Recycling Board.”

“The Board's role is to make things work better – to look at existing good work, to support innovative solutions, and by bringing these two elements together, to improve waste management across the capital. This is exactly what these priorities will deliver and I am delighted at the direction being taken by the Board,” he added.

However, at the meeting, some members of the eight-person Board expressed concern that the onus on partnership working could be inhibitive and deter participants coming forward on their own. Cllr Moylan explained that the wording surrounding the preference for partnerships had already been weakened to defuse this confusion.

Cllr Moylan said: “There is a fear that the focus on partnership working could be inhibitive. The wording has already been changed to weaken the requirement of partnerships but still putting an emphasis on them as something we value and we could still tweak the wording more. We do believe in partnership working but we can accommodate those willing to work on their own.”