Key themes include:
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70% recycling and composting rate for all waste streams by 2025;
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Landfill bans for specific materials, with a keen focus on biodegradable waste;
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A 30% cap on municipal energy-from-waste by 2025;
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Promotion of kerbside sorting of recyclable materials as a preferred collection method;
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Focus on waste prevention and cutting waste generation at source to align with the waste hierarchy defined in the revised Waste Framework Directive;
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Introduction of a reuse target, which would include local authorities offering bulky waste reuse and recycling services.
The strategy was seen as an ambitious step towards tackling waste in Wales when it was launched for consultation in April 2010, with the WAG claiming it went further than that of any of the other devolved administrations in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story).
Commenting on today's launch, Ms Davidson said: “We must change our attitudes towards waste because we cannot continue as a ‘throwaway' society sending our rubbish to landfill. Wales is already ahead of the curb, for example in the way that every local authority in the country offers a food waste collection service. Our new strategy builds on this good work.”
Wales is the only country in the UK which has a statutory obligation to promote sustainability and, under legislative powers received in February 2010 it also intends to put the recycling targets proposed in its new strategy into law – the only part of the UK to do this (see letsrecycle.com story).
While this means that councils could potentially be fined if they do not meet the targets, the WAG has stressed it will only take action as a “last resort”.
Focus
Alongside the need to encourage waste prevention, food waste emerged as another key theme of the Welsh strategy, with the minister looking to promote the separation of food waste from other waste streams.
Ms Davidson pointed to figures which claimed typical Welsh households spend £50 per month on food which is waste.
The minister pointed to efforts to combat this through the investment of £34 million over the course of 2009 and 2011 to help councils introduce separate food or food and green waste collections. She explained that every council in Wales was already providing this service to at least some of its residents.
Councils
The strategy also promotes kerbside sorting for dry recyclables, a move which could potentially become compulsory with the minister stating the WAG “hasn't ruled it out”.
“We are not making it compulsory but in life cycle analyses it keeps coming out as having the most sustainable outcome,” Ms Davidson said.
“We will be very aware that there are some very strong views aired on this and we have been clear with our local authorities, especially those that are recycling very well, that we will continue to look at the evidence on this and only make it part of the statutory requirements if the evidence is clear.”
Furthermore, the minister stated that ‘pay-as-you-throw' for residual waste arisings or rewards-based schemes for recycling were not being considered by the Welsh Assembly Government.
She said: “What is different about what we are trying to do in Wales? It is not about charging people for throwing their rubbish away and rewarding people for volumes of recycling. Our strategy is very much about helping people produce less waste.”
EfW
Commenting on energy-from-waste, to which the country has been traditionally opposed, Ms Davidson said: “When recycling is not appropriate and landfill is no longer an option to deal with it, it makes sense to use logical methods so it contributes to our energy demand.
The minister said that Wales would look to develop “modern and efficient energy-from-waste facilities” and cap the amount of waste sent to such facilities at 30%.
She said: “We have put a cap on EfW. We believe that cheap electricity is a far better outcome than methane from landfill sites. We know this is not a universally popular solution but it means facing up to the waste issue. We are determined to use every means necessary to reach our waste goals.”
Sector
Alongside the launch of the Towards Zero Waste strategy, the WAG has also begun the first towards developing an evidence-based research project into waste from different streams across Wales.
The first of the so-called ‘Sector Plans' are intended to work as implementation plans for the various waste streams and will look at; municipal waste; collection, markets and infrastructure; wholesale and retail waste; and, construction and demolition waste.
And, the first sector plan – for the municipal waste sector – has been launched today for consultation, covering the proposed approach of the WAG to help achieve ‘zero waste' in the municipal sector. Consultation for the document is set to close on September 13 2010.
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