UK needs 10 billion investment in waste, ICE warns

In the ICE State of the Nation 2005 report – released today – the organisation claims that not much progress was made in 2004/05, with the exception of movement towards letting contracts and agreeing PFI credits for waste management services.

” To meet Landfill Directive targets for diverting biodegradable waste from landfill, the UK needs to invest more than 10 billion in waste facilities in order to meet Landfill Directive targets “
– ICE State of the Nation report
According to ICE,: “To meet Landfill Directive targets for diverting biodegradable waste from landfill, the UK needs to invest more than 10 billion in waste facilities in order to meet Landfill Directive targets.”

And ICE also said that more political commitment is needed to encourage “serious” investment by the waste industry.

It states: “There were no new major planning approvals for facilities and certainly there has not been enough political commitment to encourage serious investment by industry.”

The report points to “regular instances” of planning decisions becoming political decisions, with proposals turned down against planning officers' recommendations or put back to further enquiry against inspectors' advice. A proposed materials recycling facility in West Sussex and the Riverside Resources Recovery in Bexley were cited as examples.

ICE indicated that the UK has still not made a connection between waste and energy, as a way of diverting non-recyclable materials from landfill. The report states that recycling “has its limits” and there will always be a certain amount of residual waste.

The organisation said: “In this country, waste is seen as an end – a dead end – rather than a means. That view has to change. Investing part of the 10 billion needed to treat our waste to create energy would help to meet national targets for renewable energy, reduce carbon dioxide produced and reduce landfill as well as increasing capacity of the nations energy supply.”

In the report the UK's waste position was grade D, with no change from 2004. ICE claimed that the past 12 months have “continued to show the denial and disconnected thinking with which the government, businesses and the public approach the subject of waste.”