Priority sites for waste identified in West Midlands

The study, which was carried out by SLR Consulting on behalf of AWM, is intended to aid the development of waste management capacity in the region and go some way to tackling a projected capacity deficit of 3.7 million tonnes by 2021.

The research assessed 34 locations available to local authorities in the region and graded them on environmental, social and economic points, as well as potential carbon impacts. This included their potential to develop facilities for recycling, organics, recovery or ‘co-locations' – sites that could handle the development of more than one facility.

In its results, the report claimed that the west of the region would prove most beneficial for development of organics recycling facilities. Birmingham and the Black Country were identified as the main areas for recycling infrastructure, while sites for the construction of recovery technology were dispersed across the whole area.

The sites deemed to have the greatest level of opportunity for the development of co-locations were identified as Birmingham, the Black Country, Stoke, and North Warwickshire. The actual names of potential sites assessed in the research were kept anonymous due to ‘commercial confidentiality'.

The shortlist of appropriate locations is set to be added to a Waste Development Infrastructure Programme for the West Midlands.

Former Biffa director Peter Jones, who is chairman of the West Midlands Waste Infrastructure Advisory Group (WIAG), explained that the development of sites based on factors such as carbon impact could be used to improve efficiency in other areas of waste and recycling – such as collection and communication.

Summarising the work, he said: “This work, undertaken on behalf of AWM, has been underpinned by three principles. First, that the overall carbon dioxide impact of the new facilities is minimised. Secondly, that sites need to be points where the scale of market demand for current fossil carbon inputs because the cost of transmission in pipes of wires is prohibitive. Thirdly, the process is technology neutral.”