London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

6.76. As can be seen from the above, there are only limited options at present to manage the
expected shortfall in treatment capacity for hazardous wastes after 16 th July 2004 and
an interim solution has yet to be fully defined. In the short-term, it may be expected
that prices of hazardous waste disposal will rise considerably due to increased transport
distance.
Recommendation 55: It is recommended that urgent consideration should be given to
measures to address this situation in the short to medium term. Such
measures may include:
• An awareness raising campaign for London’s hazardous waste producers,
particularly focused on SMEs (refer also to recommendations on C&I
wastes).
• Supporting contaminated land treatment technologies focusing on
assessing and promoting those most appropriate to London. This may
include information dissemination, showcasing technologies, assessment of
technology used overseas, assessment of the technical requirements for
London, set-up of one or more major interim treatment sites within easy
reach of London (such as on former landfill sites), and consideration of
ways to support development that incorporates on-site treatment methods.
• Supporting interim storage solutions for easily handled low volume,
packaged hazardous wastes.
6.77. With regarded to contaminated land arisings, if treatment can be promoted whether onsite
or on specially set-up facilities within London (such as former landfill sites), this not
only has the potential to address the treatment and disposal issues to a significant
extent, but it would also greatly help to increase the self-sufficiency of the management
of London’s hazardous wastes.
Recommendation 56: Due to the short timescale until transposition of the Hazardous
Waste Regulations, it is recommended that developing a strategy for the
treatment of London’s hazardous wastes should be accorded a very high
priority.
6.78. The potential for waste minimisation to play a part in reducing the total arisings of
hazardous wastes was discussed at the recent Hazardous Waste Conference in London 42 .
It was noted that a considerable amount had already been achieved in this area and that
whilst further reductions were possible, they were considered to be unlikely to achieve a
considerable impact on total arisings. It was also noted that there may well have been a
tendency to over-classify wastes as ‘hazardous’ in the past, perhaps due to a lack of
understanding of the regulations or the inclusion of packaging, etc. due to poor waste
segregating. It was expected that increased treatment and disposal costs would force
companies to look more closely at over-classification and that this may be an area where
some future advances could be made in waste minimisation.
Growth in Hazardous Wastes
6.79. Past hazardous waste arisings indicate that the major categories of hazardous waste
production in London are from two EWC categories, ‘C&D and asbestos’, and ‘oil &
oil/water mixtures’. It is likely that these two waste streams will remain a major
proportion of hazardous waste production for the forseeable future.
42 letsrecycle.com Conference, Hazardous Waste Summit, 24 th March 2004
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