London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

companies. There is no service offered to public sector and non-commercial
organisations. Whilst it is appreciated why Envirowise has been set up in this way, this
precludes assistance to sectors that can have significant waste management issues, such
as health, education and public administration. These sectors are expected to be of
greater significance in London than elsewhere in the UK. Whilst the health sector has
been active in promoting sustainable waste management (see later in this section).
4.142. Discussions with Envirowise indicate that it seeks to promote itself to business through
a number of ways, including:
• Funded programmes, such as Objective 2 areas;
• Business advisors at Business Link;
• Comments and editorials;
• 3 rd party business support organisations (e.g. Manufacturing Advisory Service); and,
• Trade associations.
4.143. Information is not collected on the nature of calls to the helpline or of company visits or
the size of the company. This would be useful to assist in assessing the success of the
programme and in planning future programmes.
Recommendation 14: In order to more effectively target potential users in the future,
it is recommended in relation to London in particular that information on the
size of companies contacting Envirowise, and the nature of their enquiries, is
compiled on a systematic basis.
4.144. We were informed that the future of the Envirowise programme is currently in doubt.
There is funding confirmed for up until 2007, but at present, there is some doubt as to
whether it will continue after this date. If this is the case, then there is expected that
there will be no further initiatives and, after this year, the service will start to be run
down. At this stage, it is understood that landfill tax is being considered as a future
source of funding, although no decision has been made on this issue.
4.145. It is recognised that Envirowise already has an infrastructure in place to provide advice
and support to companies of all sizes and across many sectors. Indeed, Envirowise
meets many if not all of the recommendations made in the Brook Lyndhurst report
(Brook Lyndhurst 2004) regarding the environmental support required for London’s
SMEs. Whilst it is recognised that Envirowise has not yet reached as many of London’s
companies as it would like, it is considered that it has the potential and experience to do
so and hence it would present a great loss and a missed opportunity if Envirowise was to
close.
Recommendation 15: It is recommended that Government is lobbied as a matter of
urgency to ensure the continued operation and expansion of Envirowise.
4.146. It is anticipated that London has a relatively high number of businesses in serviced
accommodation. Therefore, the waste producer is often not directly responsible for
waste management issues. This should be taken into account when developing waste
management programmes for the commercial sector in London.
4.147. Originally, the focus of Envirowise was very much on manufacturing. This reflected the
high proportion of industrial wastes in the country and the range of wastes as well. This
is particularly evident from the extensive range of Envirowise publications on
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