In an attempt to help close the gap between the waste treatment facilities needed in the UK and European targets to divert material from landfill, Defra and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have “re-formulated” guidance on planning and municipal waste.
” There is a determination across Government to deliver more modern and sustainable waste management for future generations.“
– Baroness Andrews, ODPM
Along with a new planning policy statement (PPS10), the ODPM and Defra have released new guidance for councils to draw up municipal waste management strategies.
The government also published a document laying out changes to decision-making principles within its Waste Strategy 2000.
The documents aim to provide a more effective framework for delivering “significant expansion in new waste management facilities needed to meet EU obligations and national policy”, ministers said.
Monitoring
Greater clarity has been given on what is required at regional and local levels to help speed up the planning process, with waste management fitting more closely with planning for other sectors. Ministers also said that there would be more emphasis on regular monitoring and review to ensure plans and strategies are up-to-date.
Unveiling the new guidance, the ODPM planning minister Baroness Andrews said: “There is a determination across Government to deliver more modern and sustainable waste management for future generations.”
Defra's local environment quality minister Ben Bradshaw explained that the changes come at a crucial time. He said: “We need to divert as much waste as possible from landfill sites; not just because space in landfill sites is running out and we have tough European targets to meet, but because we want to manage our waste in a more environmentally sound way.”
The government now expects all councils to have an up-to-date municipal waste strategy in place.
Principles
While key aims of moving waste management away from landfill and towards recovery and recycling have not changed, some principles within government thinking have been “re-formulated”.
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The proximity principle, which stated that waste must be treated as near to source as possible, has been turned into an objective that communities should take more responsibility for their own waste, while waste should be disposed of in “one of the nearest appropriate installations”.
The role of the Best Practicable Environmental Option in planning decisions has also been reviewed, with plans now subject to a “Sustainability Appraisal”. Councils developing strategies are encouraged to undertake “Strategic Environmental Assessment combined with a thorough assessment of social and economic factors.”
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