Local authorities have statutory responsibilities for the collection and disposal of household waste. However, waste is more than just a management/disposal issue. It should be about effective resource use and sustainable management. With an emphasis on reducing the burden on natural resources, reducing the amount of waste we bury in the ground, and delivering on sustainable development, local authorities have statutory duties to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. The only way they can do this is by increasing the amount of waste collected that can be recycled and composted, and finding alternative methods of treatment to reduce the amount ending up in landfill.
Key Issues/Policy Context
The Landfill Directive and Waste and Emissions Trading Act give the Assembly powers to specify how much waste local authorities can put in a landfill. Each year this figure reduces so local authorities have to find innovative ways to find alternate sources for the waste they collect from households.
The Assembly’s strategy Wise About Waste sets the policy context for tackling this huge agenda. It promotes Cleanstream principles and lays out a waste hierarchy with waste minimisation at the top and landfill at the bottom. This strategy is to be reviewed in 2007 and the WLGA will be fully involved in assessing the strategy to date, and proposing ways forward for the future.
To ensure local authorities have the capacity and expertise to meet landfill targets, the Association, in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government, has introduced a Waste Peer Review. Each local authority will, voluntarily, over a three year period be visited by a team to assess their plans and progress to date on meeting landfill targets.
WLGA Views
Welsh councils started recycling from a very low base (3%). The targets of 25% for 06/07 and 40% for 09/10 are very challenging but not unrealistic. However the challenge is meeting landfill targets, especially in 2013, if waste arisings continue to increase.
Local recycling solutions need to be in place, accompanied by effective communication to increase participation and ownership by residents. We accept that it is neither feasible, sensible nor affordable for each local authority to have their own hierarchy of waste facilities. Therefore partnership and regional working will be critical. This should bring economies of scale for authorities, allow for larger contracts thereby appearing more attractive to the private sector for investment whilst also allowing local government to retain control of services because at the end of the day it will be local government, if fail to meet targets who will pay £200 per tonne.
Partnership is critical in ensuring the success of local government to meeting the landfill targets. The WLGA has regular liaison meetings with both the Assembly and the Environment Agency to discuss waste management policy and regulation issues.
The WLGA also has partnerships with Keep Wales Tidy, with the Waste Awareness Wales campaign, and Cylch. In 2002 WLGA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cylch which saw the introduction of the Strategic Recycling Scheme and the Exemplars project.
For more information contact: Rachel Jowitt