Draft Business Waste Strategy PDF - london.gov.uk - Greater ...

Making waste work in London The Mayor’s Draft Business Waste Management Strategy Mayor of London 35
3.20 The government proposes, in Waste Strategy 2007, and subject to further
analysis, to restrict certain materials from landfill and develop policies
to effect a reduction in its use 75 . In February 2007, in response to
disappointment in the impact of the Thematic Strategy on the Prevention
and Recycling of Waste 76 , the European Parliament called for a total ban
on landfilling of all recycled materials by 2020, which would be extended
to all residual waste by 2025 77 . The Mayor supports further restrictions
as part of the drive to continue to reduce landfill. Table 2 shows how far
behind the government is in introducing further restrictions compared
to European neighbours and provides a considerable incentive to move
forward on their proposal.
Table 2: EU Member States with supplementary approaches to landfill
State Action
Germany 1993 Ban on all non-treated wastes to landfill
Netherlands 1995 Ban on all wastes that can be reused or recovered
Sweden 1996 Ban on non-treated municipal waste to landfill
France 2002 Ban on landfilling non-residual waste
Sweden 2005 Ban on organic waste to landfill
Source: Waste Strategy 2007, Defra May 2007, Table 3.1, page 47
3.21 A concern with the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme is that it drives
waste from the bottom of the waste hierarchy up only one step to the next
poorest solution – incineration – rather than focusing on implementing the
waste hierarchy from the top down. Research commissioned by the GLA 78
has shown that the incineration of mixed biomass and non-biomass waste
is a net contributor to climate change. In electricity only mode, the mode
under which all of London’s existing and proposed incinerators operate,
incineration generates up to 83 kg of CO 2 equivalent per tonne of waste
treated and therefore contributes to climate change.
3.22 It is likely that the government’s proposed policy to restrict recyclable
materials from landfill will be linked to their priority waste materials:
paper, food, glass, aluminium, wood, plastics and textiles. Such a
restriction could force waste into management routes further up the
waste heirarchy unless government sets material-specific recycling
targets and puts recycling infrastructure in place to ensure recycled
materials are not simply burnt, in the drive to divert material from landfill.
The government’s carbon assessment 80 of the policy assumes plastics,
paper and card, textiles, metals and glass are recycled but sets no further
policy to guarantee this.