Waste not want not - States Assembly

1. INTRODUCTION
Summary
The Strategy Unit was tasked at the end of 2001 with carrying out a
review of the Waste Strategy in England.
The aim of this review has been:
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to analyse the scale of the challenge posed by growing quantities of
municipal household waste;
to assess the main causes and drivers behind this growth now and in
the future; and
to devise a strategy, with practical and cost-effective measures for
addressing the challenge, which will put England on a sustainable
path for managing future streams of household waste.
This report sets out the
findings of a review of waste
strategy in England
1.1 The Strategy Unit (SU), formerly the
Performance and Innovation Unit, was asked by
the Prime Minister to carry out a review of Waste
Strategy 1 at the end of 2001. It was asked in
particular to consider the implications of Article
5 of the EU Landfill Directive 2 which sets targets
for reducing the proportion of biodegradable,
municipal waste sent to landfill sites.
1.2 This report’s focus on municipal waste – i.e.
waste under the control of local authorities –
does not mean that other wastes are
unimportant. On the contrary, their aggregate
volume is substantially greater than municipal
waste, and hazardous, industrial and
commercial waste streams are also increasingly
affected by EU Directives. A working paper on
the SU web site sets out proposals for further
work that might be undertaken on such waste
streams. Where appropriate this report
highlights recommendations relevant to the
more sustainable management of other wastes.
1.3 The study is concerned with waste policy in
England as waste policy, with the exception of
most economic instruments, 3 is devolved.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their
own waste strategies. 4 Some of the positive
steps underway in the devolved administrations
to tackle waste are set out in Box 1.
1
Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Waste Strategy 2000 for England and Wales (May 2000). As stated above,
Wales now has its own Waste Strategy
2
Council Directive 99/31/EC on the landfill of waste
3
Chapter 9 clarifies any impacts of the report’s recommendations on the devolved administrations
4
Wise about Waste – The National Waste Strategy for Wales (June 2002) is available at
www.wales.gov.uk/subienvironment/content/wastesummary-e.pdf. The National Waste Strategy for Scotland (1999) is available at
www.sepa.org.uk/nws/pdf/nws/national_waste_strategy.pdf. Scotland’s new National Waste Plan will be published in 2003. Northern
Ireland’s Waste Strategy is available at www.ehsni.gov.uk/pubs/publications/NIWMS.pdf
INTRODUCTION
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