Manufacturers call for radical overhaul of UK waste strategy

13 October 2009

Manufacturers have called for a radical overhaul of government waste strategy to ensure business and the UK economy as a whole can benefit from opportunities through sustainable waste management and resource efficiency.

In a report submitted to government ministers EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation said that two years after the Government’s Strategy for Waste was first published, a number of the policy commitments have yet to be implemented and some that have been do not effectively contribute to resource efficiency and climate change mitigation as intended.

‘Sustainable use and management of waste and resources is one of the most pressing challenges facing the UK. This country produces 335m tonnes of waste annually cutting this waste is not just critical for sustainable development but can significantly cut costs to business, something that is vital for manufacturers in the current economic climate.’ said senior climate & environment policy adviser at EEF Vanessa Fandrich.

‘Two years on the government’s strategy lacks a clear direction. We are still waiting for the government to bring forward credible policies to improve resource efficient business waste management.’

EEF’s report entitled ‘Waste strategy 2007 – Two years on‘ focuses on the challenges for UK manufacturing companies and sets out a number of policy recommendations. It argues for a shift in thinking from waste as a problem to a valuable resource and a more outcome-based and strategic approach across waste and resources policy based on life-cycle thinking.

The report calls on the government to provide a clear and long-term resource management strategy, setting out a vision for how the UK will make the most of its available raw material and energy resources; simplify waste legislation and guidance to allow business to fully contribute to sustainable waste and resource management; facilitate speedy delivery of the necessary infrastructure and services to facilitate the recovery of useful resources from all waste streams; provide targeted advice and support to encourage business resource efficiency through eco-design, process re-engineering and R&D funding; and encourage resource use optimisation across product/material life-cycles by stimulating demand for resource efficient products

There has been increasing pressure on the UK government to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. This has been primarily driven by European legislation, such as the landfill directive and producer responsibility directives on packaging, electrical equipment, batteries and end-of-life vehicles. As a result of this legislation, some progress has been made over the past ten years.

A recent EEF survey showed that over 96 per cent of its members have, or are planning to, take action on waste management with half of those surveyed indicating they have already implemented waste prevention, reuse and recycling strategies across their organisations. However, the UK is still far behind many of its European neighbours when it comes to recovery of waste.

Fandrich added, ‘UK manufacturers are already taking on the challenge of sustainable resource use and waste management but they are looking to government to ensure that the policy framework provides the right climate for industry to take this to the next level, whilst thriving in a highly competitive environment.’

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Tags: waste

This story was published on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Europe, energy efficiency, knowledge, policy. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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