Major consultation launched over North London’s waste

The North London Waste Authority – which manages waste disposal on behalf of the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Islington, Hackney, Haringey and Waltham Forest – is seeking final opinions on its revised waste strategy.

Entitled the North London Joint Waste Strategy, the document was originally drawn up in 2004. However, delays in getting agreement from all parties have meant that the NLWDA is now required to run a final consultation, before it is approved.

Once recommendations are taken on board and it is formerly adopted, the strategy will be used to facilitate the procurement of new waste management services to increase the recycling and recovery of waste, and also influence what will happen when its current 10 year waste treatment contract with LonodonWaste Limited ends in 2014.

Andrew Lappage, head of waste strategy for the NLWA, said: “The financial and environmental impacts of continuing to operate as we have in the past are not sustainable and we need to find an alternative to landfill – a long-term cost effective solution for managing our waste.

“This consultation forms part of a Strategic Environmental Assessment which identifies and assesses the likely environmental impacts of the draft North London Joint Waste Strategy and makes recommendations for changes to reduce them,” he added.

Strategy 

In the revised waste strategy, the NLWA plans to extend collections of dry recyclables and food waste to more homes, prevent waste and encourage reuse.

Targets include ensuring that 25% of all residents with gardens compost at home by 2014.

The Partner Authorities will also aim to provide door-to-door recycling services to 95% of “relevant households” and achieve 65% capture rates of targeted recycling materials during the period of the strategy.

For waste that cannot be recycled, the NLWA committed to the continual use of the Edmonton energy recovery facility until the end of its LondonWaste contract in 2014.

In the long-term, the NLWA notes that it would need more capacity to deal with its waste – and expresses an interest in anaerobic digestion, mechanical biological treatment, pyrolysis and gasification technologies.

In particular, the authority favours technologies eligible for the most government support under the Renewables Obligation and those,such as MBT, which create a fuel.

The draft strategy said: “The Partner Authorities will need increased and significant energy treatment capacity – potentially 500,000 tonnes input per annum by 2020 – to comply with the later requirements of the Landfill Directive. “New and Emerging Technologies” are increasingly offering attractive alternatives both to landfill and to conventional incineration.”

It added: “The best option for North London will involve achievement of 50% recycling and composting rates by 2020, with treatment of the residual waste not being landfilled provided initially through the existing Energy from Waste incineration facility, and later through processing capacity, giving preference to advanced conversion technologies, especially where the products of waste treatment could be used as fuels.”