Waste not want not - States Assembly

Box 12: Scenario 2 – the SU trajectory – how England might look
in 2015
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refocusing existing funding along with new resources in 2003, plus an increase in landfill tax
to £35 a tonne, has stimulated a clear transformation in UK waste management;
initiatives to help households reduce waste have paid dividends. Over 50% of UK households
now compost at home. Waste growth dropped to 2% from 3% in 2006. It is now in line with
GDP as in many other nations, and in the last 2 years has dipped slightly below that. This has
reduced costs and the need for additional facilities;
it has also helped industry who, with advice from Envirowise and having made investment in
changes, are now making substantial savings on raw materials and waste costs;
every home now has kerbside recycling for organic waste and key dry recyclables. Recycling
has reached 45% in England putting the UK above average EU performance;
areas with incentives to reduce waste and recycle are doing even better and around 60% of
authorities use this approach;
the new waste resource authorities introduced gradually from 2007, have changed the
emphasis from waste disposal to resource management. They are paid based on their success
in waste reduction, recycling and reducing residual waste;
LAs are working together, with industry and community groups to produce more effective
solutions to waste management;
stimulation of the uptake of more existing and new technologies has provided a wider range
of options to manage waste. A wider range of waste treatment methods are being used for
handling residual waste: mechanical biological treatment, digestion, gasification and pyrolysis
are being used along with a much smaller increase in incineration than was thought necessary
to reduce the active waste going to landfill in 2002;
industry and households are now much more aware of waste and the environment. New
markets for recycled goods have developed and participation in recycling continues to grow.
This holds out the prospect of recycling rates reaching around 50% by 2020;
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the Landfill Directive targets for 2010 and 2013 were met.
MOVING FORWARDS TO A NEW STRATEGY
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