Waste not want not - States Assembly

The future costs of managing
England’s rising volume of
household waste are very
uncertain but clearly subject to
upward pressure
8.1 Local authorities in England are estimated
to spend around £1.6 billion each year on waste
collection and disposal services. 131 This is largely
spent through contracts with the private sector
and, as set out earlier in this report, is
dominated by disposal of waste at landfill sites.
If policies remain unchanged, this expenditure
will double over the next twenty years as a
result of rising waste volumes.
Various commentators and analysts have
attempted to estimate the cost to local
authorities of meeting various targets over the
medium term. These are shown in Box 30.
Box 30: The cost of reducing reliance on landfill
Ernst and Young(a) have estimated that additional investment of £600-700m per annum over
the next 10 years will be required to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill, sufficient to
meet the Article 5 targets of the EU Landfill Directive.
A County Surveyor’s Society(b) report has estimated future costs of waste management in
the medium and long term. This analysis concluded that local authority expenditure might have
to increase by 60% compared to 2001 in order to meet the 2005 Best Value recycling targets
(25% of household waste recycled and composted by 2005) and by over 100% by 2013.
Waste Strategy 2000(c) estimated the additional costs over a baseline of different mixes of
waste management options to meet the Waste Strategy targets. These ranged from £3.4 billion
to £7.7 billion in present value terms.
(a) Ernst and Young Local Authority Waste Management Survey, 2001
(b) AEA Technology Waste Strategy Compliance Costs – Phase II, 2002
(c) DETR, Waste Strategy 2000, Part 2
8.2 Predicting the future cost of waste
8.3 The least value for money option is making
management is, of course, highly dependent on no change. Environmental damage will continue
the assumptions made. The SU estimates that and potentially valuable resources will continue
the cost of implementing the strategy set out in to be squandered. The costs of managing the
this report would not be significantly different municipal waste stream will double by 2020,
from doing nothing over the 18 years to 2020 – the UK could face fines from the EU for failing
less than £3 billion more in present value terms: to meet its international obligations, and more
£26.7 billion versus £29.6 billion. 132 landfill sites and incinerators will be required.
131
Estimated. Latest out-turn figure is £1.5 billion in 2000/01, CIPFA
132
SU analysis. These figures differ slightly from those presented in Figure 10 in chapter 5 and result from incorporating more
information into the analysis of ‘status quo’ and the package of SU recommendations
FUNDING AND DELIVERY
101