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

56 Mayor of London
Making waste work in London The Mayor’s Draft Business Waste Management Strategy
Reclamation Facilities (MRFs). In many cases materials being recovered
are of poor quality and are unsuitable for domestic markets 120 .
3.91 WRAP has commissioned a project that aims to review the quality of MRF
technologies and processes currently employed in the UK 121 . This will
provide the industry with the knowledge required to upgrade MRFs so
that materials collected can be reprocessed in the UK by meeting market
requirements for higher-quality materials.
3.92 For London to reap the rewards offered by the secondary materials
economy, strategic coordination between expanded sources of supply
and new reprocessing is required. In 2003, the Mayor's Municipal Waste
Management Strategy 122 proposed to investigate the benefits of
Londonwide consortia for recycled materials (Proposal 76).
3.93 The development of a consortium or a ‘trading hub’ to coordinate the sale
of all London’s recycled materials would enable London to amass materials
of a sufficient volume to make the development of domestic reprocessing
infrastructure within London and in partnership with surrounding regions
viable 123 . It would also provide stability to the marketplace by enabling
the development of secure and long-term contracts that would be able to
serve larger, international markets, while seeking the best price for
London’s recycled material. It may also enable the movement of recycled
materials to be coordinated, which would reduce the associated transport
impacts of recycling.
3.94 A trading hub could work with waste collectors from the public, private
and third sectors and reprocessors and would be expected to become
financially self-sufficient. The GLA and LDA have held discussions about
joint working with neighbouring regions through the inter-regional forum
to initiate the development of partnerships.
Proposal 6 The Mayor will investigate and, if appropriate, implement an appropriate
vehicle to act as a trading hub for recycled materials across London.
21st century energy
3.95 Waste that cannot be recycled is still a valuable resource and its energy
can be recovered using advanced waste technologies such as anaerobic
digestion, pyrolysis and gasification. This energy will be either partially
or entirely renewable, depending upon the feedstock. The Stern review 124
indicated that the technical potential to produce energy from residual
waste could be substantial, potentially accounting for as much as
17 per cent of the UK’s electricity consumption by 2020 125 .