International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

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programme of measures to achieve the targets. In addition overall
responsibility for driving the plan must be assigned. A national plan would
overcome the deficits inherent in regional waste management plans and
provide clear guidance to planning officials and waste regulatory authorities. It
would also provide clarity to investors on whether their infrastructure projects
are compliant with national waste and planning policies.
The EPA goes on to conclude:
The absence of an integrated national waste management plan creates
uncertainty for investors developing new infrastructure while regional waste
management plan boundaries are potentially artificial obstacles to cost
effective waste management.
It suggests that the following should be considered:
� A detailed national waste management plan should be developed with
responsibility for delivery clearly designated.
� Remove unnecessary restrictions on waste management proposals that
curtail waste movements across county or regional boundaries, as these
restrictions may add to the cost of waste management.
Thus, it stops short of recommending that the regions should no longer take
responsibility for waste planning, though to the extent that it also suggests that
national guidance on site selection might also be part of a National Waste
Management Plan, then the proposed National Plan would seem to fulfil many of the
functions of the existing Regional Waste Management Plans.
Several other stakeholders consulted during the course of this exercise expressed the
view that they felt that the RWMPs were ineffective. They made comments to the
effect that investment was made despite, rather than because of, the RWMPs. Some
felt a national plan was necessary, lamenting the fact that this was never introduced.
Some of the advocates of a national coordinating mechanism took the view that the
RWMPs should remain, but others suggested that the RWMPs should simply be cast
aside in favour of a national waste board, or waste management authority.
5.3 Performance and Monitoring of Regional Waste Management
Plans
The Regional Waste Management Plans all set targets for recycling of different waste
streams. They also set out plans for the treatment of waste. Both of these vary widely
across the regions.
The RWMPs are essentially intended to constitute the means to deliver these, but
where local authorities have withdrawn from the provision of waste collection
services, then their ‘ability to ensure’ delivery of targets is likely to be rather more
limited than in those cases where they have control over the process through either
collecting materials themselves, or through tendering out services. Failing this,
authorities would need to be pro-active in ensuring collection permits were specified
so as to ensure the collection services offered by collectors were capable of delivering
on targets.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes