London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

equirements for the ‘new’ hazardous wastes from mid-2005 (predicted as 0.8 million
tonnes for England and Wales, see below).
6.64. The work completed by the Hazardous Waste Forum and undertaken by the
Environment Agency refers to hazardous waste capacity and the impact in the change of
the definition from Special to Hazardous. The figure of 0.8 million tonnes per annum of
additional waste classed as hazardous (due to expansion in the definition of hazardous)
was produced by assessing the hazardous properties that different waste types possess,
and is for England and Wales.
6.65. There has been no additional work to date to provide a breakdown of this figure by
regions. However, estimations could be made into the amount of extra waste produced
by London based either on:
• London’s proportion of the current hazardous waste arisings (9% = 72,000 tonnes);
or
• London’s population in proportion to England and Wales (14% = 112,000 tonnes)
6.66. However, both of the above methods are likely to contain inaccuracies. Estimating on
the current proportions of hazardous waste production (using Consignment Notes)
would not take any account of future inputs from domestic production, whereas
estimates using population for different areas discounts the impact of the industrial
nature of the area. Nevertheless it is acknowledged that hazardous waste arisings will
increase significantly under the new regulations and that the increase in London could
be in the region of 100,000 tonnes per annum, i.e. an uplift of more than 20% on
London’s current hazardous waste arisings (458,579 tonnes).
Recommendation 53: In the light of the anticipated significant increase in hazardous
waste arisings under the new Hazardous Waste Regulations, it is recommended
that a separate investigation is carried out into the likely quantity and type of
these ‘new’ hazardous wastes to inform the development of a strategy to
improve the degree of London’s self-sufficiency in managing such wastes.
6.67. It is important to point out that the future lack of treatment capacity for hazardous
wastes is not a problem that is specific to London. The Hazardous Waste Forum has
made it clear to the Government that the treatment facilities throughout the country do
not exist to meet the stipulations of the EC Landfill Directive.
6.68. It is clear that a considerable increase in treatment capacity is required. It is also evident
that the waste management industry cannot provide this capacity at present due at least
in part to uncertainties regarding the requirements of the new regulations. Also a
considerable time period is required to plan, develop and construct new facilities. This
period can be variable due to the nature and location of the plant and the strength of
any public opposition. It is anticipated that it would take a minimum of at least one
year, and could well be several years to plan, authorise and construct new facilities.
Given that the hazardous waste provision in the UK is essentially provided by the private
sector, the industry has to be confident that they will be able to meet the regulations
and licensing requirements and procure appropriate disposal contracts before they
commence the planning and construction of multi-million pound developments. Hence,
even if an appropriate number of treatment facilities were commissioned immediately,
the lag time before they came on stream could be several years or more.
Recommendation 54: It is strongly recommended that in developing future policy for
waste management in London, the time required to plan, authorise and
112