London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

7.7. London’s total hazardous waste arisings in 2002 were recorded by the Environment
Agency’s consignment note system as 458,579 tonnes.
Current Practice and Recycling / Recovery Levels
7.8. The current levels of recycling and recovery of London’s wider wastes vary according to
waste category. Relatively high levels of recycling and recovery are reported for
London’s ‘hard’ C&D wastes (72%), much higher than the average for England (41%)
for this waste stream. However these rates may reduce when considering the C&D
waste stream as a whole, as defined in the European Waste Catalogue 2002 (including
‘soft’ C&D wastes). The bulk of the recycling and recovery is reported as crushing of
hard materials for re-use as bulk or engineering fill. There is little evidence of ‘higher
value’ recycling being carried out, e.g. production of aggregate for concrete from
secondary materials.
7.9. In contrast, relatively low levels of recycling and recovery were reported from London’s
C&I and hazardous waste streams. London’s C&I wastes are typically collected, bulked
up and transported to landfill out of London or for incineration. Currently, significantly
more than half of London’s C&I wastes (65-70%) are landfilled. Similarly around 73%
of London’s total hazardous waste production in 2002 was sent for disposal to landfill,
mostly outside London.
Waste Transportation
7.10. While there is some evidence that the River Thames and London’s rail network are
increasingly used for waste transportation purposes, the current arrangements are
predominantly for municipal waste. Significant additional available capacity for waste
transportation is reported by the Port of London Authority (for the River Thames) and
by British Waterways (for the narrow canals and River Lee). However a key constraint
for the future expansion of waste transportation by water is the availability of waterside
land with planning permission for waste transfer facilities, partly due to the competition
for new house-building sites.
Existing and Future Infrastructure
7.11. It is clear from this study that London currently lacks the necessary infrastructure to
enable it to manage its wider wastes in an increasingly self-sufficient and sustainable
way. The lack of the necessary infrastructure is particularly apparent for the processing
and disposal of hazardous wastes; however infrastructure deficiencies are also apparent
for higher value recycling / reprocessing of C&D wastes, and also for C&I wastes.
7.12. In the short-term, the critical issue is the expected complete absence of any hazardous
waste disposal facilities within London from July 2004, as a consequence of the
implementation of the Landfill Directive requirements. This will result in all hazardous
wastes (including contaminated soils from brownfield development) being transported
to a small number of landfills significant distances outside of London. This has
potentially serious consequences for London’s brownfield development programme,
resulting from the likely increased costs and construction delays associated with site
preparation and clean-up.
7.13. For the medium-longer term, the results from the study consultations indicate that
recycling and reprocessing activity is likely to increase within the waste management
companies and the reprocessing sectors, with a resulting increase in the infrastructure
capacity. However, the drivers for such development are purely economic and the
constraints on site development within London (i.e. land availability, planning consent
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