RSS East Of England Plan - Broads Authority

East of England Plan 71
Section 11
Waste
11.1 In 2003 EERA adopted the Regional Waste Management Strategy for the East of England, which provided a nonstatutory
framework for waste management. A subsequent study of waste facility capacity and future needs in the East
of England, ERM, October 2005, showed that the region generated some 10m tonnes of non hazardous waste in 2003/4
(3m tonnes of municipal solid waste and 7 million of commercial and industrial), which is predicted to grow to over 14.5m
tonnes by 2021 requiring significant investment in new treatment and disposal facilities.
11.2 Further work by EERA in 2006 built on this study to develop an apportionment of London’s waste. Both informed EERA’s
technical note and advice to Government, September 2006, which is published on the Assembly’s website. With the
Regional Waste Management Strategy it underpins this section of the RSS.
POLICY WM1: Waste Management Objectives
In implementing the overall vision and objectives of the Regional Spatial Strategy waste management policies
should be based on the following objectives:
• to ensure timely and adequate provision of the facilities required for the recovery and disposal of the region’s
waste and for a reducing quantum of wastes imported into the region;
• to minimise the impact of new development, particularly in the key centres of development and change, on
regional waste management requirements;
• to minimise the environmental impact of waste management, including impacts arising from the movement of
waste, and help secure the recovery and disposal of waste without endangering human health;
• to seek community support and participation in promoting responsible waste behaviour and approaches to
management, viewing waste as a resource and maximising re-use, recycling, composting and energy recovery;
and
• in determining proposals for planning permission to give weight to the particular locational needs of some types
of waste management facility, together with the wider environmental and economic benefits of sustainable
waste management.
11.3 National Planning Policy (PPS10) seeks to drive the management of waste up the waste hierarchy of reduction, re-use,
recycling and composting, energy recovery from material defined as biomass under the Renewables Obligation, and as a
last resort, disposal. Policy WM1 reinforces aspects of national policy that will need to apply across the region if waste
generation is to be successfully decoupled from economic growth. It respects the European and national policy context
and, in seeking to achieve the required shift towards more sustainable waste management, builds on principles set out in
the Waste Strategy for England and PPS10.
11.4 To achieve these objectives, efforts must be made to reverse the growth in waste, recover the maximum resource value
from the waste produced, and accelerate progress in delivering increased waste management capacity. As communities
take more responsibility for their waste, waste management is expected to take place near to where it arises. However,
some waste movements will be necessary to allow for processing and disposal at appropriate facilities. Such movements
should use appropriate routes and, where possible, modes other than road.