An innovative waste strategy, which could become a blueprint nationally, was today launched at the House of Commons.
The Landfill Diversion Strategy is the latest output from the Advantage West Midlands' low carbon West Midlands Economic Strategy, which identified a need to address the lack of existing waste infrastructure and anticipated that by 2021 the West Midlands would create some 3.7 million tonnes of waste more than it can deal with every year.
Waste disposal already costs regional businesses up to 4 per cent of their turnover a year and AWM wants to see businesses make more of their waste to bring costs and carbon footprints down.
To do this, the regional waste industry needs to treat and recycle as much waste as it can locally.
With partners, Advantage West Midlands has developed a unique regional Landfill Diversion Strategy with a Location Analysis Tool which identifies sites most suitable for waste technologies as an alternative to landfill. These include composting, recycling and using waste to produce energy.
The strategy is the first of its type in the UK. Today, a group of parliamentarians, business leaders and senior civil servants attended the strategy launch at the House of Commons by invitation of Carbon Connect - a strategic group established to promote environmental enterprise and low-carbon innovation.
The Location Analysis Tool identifies locations most suitable for waste technologies as an alternative to landfill, including: Organic (composting), Dry Recycling (segregation and reprocessing) and Recovery (including energy from waste, combined heat and power schemes and mechanical and biological treatment).
The suitability of the locations has been determined by a robust model analysing some 50 individual constraint parameters (e.g.. proximity to communities, distance to utilities and required infrastructures, areas of outstanding natural beauty etc).
Some 34 locations have been identified as representing the best opportunities for the specific waste technologies.
Advantage West Midlands believes there are benefits for all interested in the development of new waste infrastructures:
- For waste management companies, developers and financiers, it allows independent identification of the most suitable locations to support their processes and develop proposals or secure capital finance. For sites already owned, landowners and developers will gain from knowing the most appropriate waste technology to consider.
- For Local Authorities, it creates a simple guide to use in planning discussions with developers and waste companies to overview options and prioritise opportunities.
- For communities it allows greater awareness and understanding on the priorities and requirements for waste infrastructures and the depth of thinking that has been invested into ensuring locations identified cause the minimum disruption.
Mark Pearce, Corporate Director Economic Regeneration at Advantage West Midlands, said: “This Landfill Diversion Strategy is the UK's first to provide a consistent and coherent approach for identifying locations for the development of new waste infrastructure.
"Too much waste is not just a regional problem and we hope the rest of the country can take advantage of the work we have already done."
Copies of the Landfill Diversion strategy can be downloaded here.
Today's meeting was chaired by Lord Taylor of Holbeach - Shadow Minister for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
Speakers were:
- Peter Jones, chairman of the West Midlands Waste Infrastructure Advisory Group (WIAG), which was set up to bring together key players in the waste industry and environmental groups and provide regional leadership. WIAG worked closely with AWM to develop the Landfill Diversion Strategy
- Alan Whitehead MP, chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group
- Mark Pearce, Corporate Director Economic Regeneration at Advantage West Midlands.