Their plans for assistance in “Helping businesses use resources more efficiently and divert more waste from landfill”, was unveiled last week as one of the top targets for the Environment Agency over the next five years.

Launched on day two of the Agency’s annual conference, the new corporate strategy Creating A Better Place 2010-2015 also outlines the key waste-related challenges that are facing businesses and communities over the next five years and what needs to be done to meet those challenges including:

Hazardous waste:

* Overview: There has been a step change in the management of hazardous waste since the banning of co-disposal and mixing pits. Government has also consulted on a proposed Strategy for Hazardous Waste Management in England – a move that will lead to further improvements in hazardous waste treatment.
* What next? Hazardous waste poses particular risks to the environment and health so it is especially important that it is managed properly. Hazardous waste needs to be designed out at source, reduced and recycled wherever possible and residues managed safety.

Biodegradable waste:

* Overview: More than 100 million tonnes of bio-waste is produced in the UK every year. Much of this is recycled by spreading on to land.
* What next? Biowaste sent to landfill generates methane which is 20 times more potent than CO2. As well as needing to reduce biowaste production we want more of this valuable resource to be turned into energy and soil conditioners through greater uptake of anaerobic digestion.

Waste Crime:

* Overview: Hefty fines and tough sentences have been handed out to waste criminals in 454 prosecutions over the past year as a result of the Environment Agency’s crackdown on waste crime.
* What next? Waste crime is unacceptable. It puts our environment and our health at risk and undercuts legitimate businesses. We want to see businesses taking much more responsibility for the safe and lawful management of their waste – and the courts still need to make sure crime does not pay.

Head of Waste and Resources Liz Parkes said: “Last year the total environmental costs of waste sent to landfill and incinerators in the UK rather than being recycled were £336million.

“But the latest estimates are that UK companies could save in the region of £6.4 billion a year by using resources more efficiently. Collaborative work by the Environment Agency and WRAP to set new quality standards for waste recovery could result in 17 million tonnes of waste being diverted and over 2 million tonnes of carbon and 14 million tonnes of raw materials being saved.

“Good progress is being made towards municipal waste and packaging recovery targets. Regulated companies have also reduced the amount of waste they produce by 14% since 2005. But more can be done.

“The bottom line is population growth and consumption patterns are placing an unsustainable burden on the planet’s resources. Add climate change to the mix and we have no choice. Businesses must treat waste a valuable resource. In turn, we are working to make it easier for businesses to do the right thing and taking tough action against those who flout the law.”

Full article at The Environment Agency web site.

Mountains of recycled rubbish spring up across UK as market for waste collapses.

Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of unwanted recycling is being stockpiled as contractors struggle to sell off used cans, newspapers and cardboard collected from households.

By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor, and Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 10:24PM GMT 29 Dec 2008
Mountains of recycled rubbish spring up across UK as market for waste collapses
One in four councils has asked for more storage capacity to cope with recycling. Photo: Geoff Pugh

Experts estimate that up to 15 per cent of all recycling is now being stored in warehouses and ports, waiting for a buyer.

Some of the waste could be stuck there for a year.

One in four councils has asked for more storage capacity to cope with the problem, which is likely to have worsened because of the volume of recycling generated over Christmas.

Councils have been forced to recycle more by facing higher penalties for every tonne of waste that they dump in landfill to help the UK hit new European Union recycling targets.

But demand for recycling material has dropped sharply since October as sales of new cars, white goods and new homes – which provide a market for recycled material – have tailed off in the global downturn.

The price of recycled cans has fallen from £200 a tonne to £20 a tonne, while paper and card has also dropped from £60 a tonne to just £10 a tonne.

Prices have now fallen so far that the cost of making new plastic is cheaper than reusing the recycled material. The result has been a big increase in stockpiles of recycled rubbish, which contractors are battling to clear.

The Environment Agency said one way to ease the situation was for people to give more of their waste to charity, rather trying to recycle it.

The news comes after research by The Daily Telegraph found that three in four councils diverted nearly 200,000 tonnes of recycled waste to landfill last year.

Greencycle, a firm which collects waste for councils in the north east of England, said it had been forced to stockpile 2,000 tonnes of paper, card and cans.

Neil Rippon, the company’s managing director, said: “The market is the worst that anybody has ever known. People who I know who have been in the business for 30 years have never known anything like it.”

Mr Rippon estimated as much as 15 per cent of all recycling could be stockpiled temporarily. Last year 800,000 tonnes of recycling was collected from households in England and Wales every month.

Closed Loop, one of the UK’s biggest recycling firms, said it was planning to increase its stocks of unwanted bottles by 5,000 tonnes by leasing four acres of next to its factory in Dagenham.

Chris Dow, the chief executive, said: “When the recycling has a problem, it is up to people like me to step up to the plate.”

Dave Davis, the owner of Oswestry Waste Paper in Shropshire, said the market was so bad that processors were being forced to charge councils and shopping centres money to collect waste paper and card.

He said “I have never seen the market so volatile, it has just fallen over the edge. We just keep our fingers crossed that the market will change.”

Experts said stockpiling was likely to get worse over the next nine weeks. Steve Eminton, of Let’s Recycle.com, said: “Everything is now being stockpiled. I think it is probably going to get worse in January and February.”

Official figures show the number of registered sites for storing recycled waste increased by two per cent to 859 in the past 12 months.

The Local Government Association, which represents 400 councils in England and Wales, said 27 per cent of councils had increased their temporary storage capacity for recycled waste.

Paul Bettison, chairman of the LGA’s environment board, said some of the stockpiled waste might not be cleared for a year: “I have spoken to a number of people who have decided to hold on [to the waste] because prices seems to be improving.

“The recycling market is very immature; no one foresaw that in terms of a recession, it can be extremely volatile.”

Eric Pickles MP, the shadow Local Government secretary, said: “Councils are being forced either to stockpile rubbish in dumps across the country, or else be hit by swingeing fines and taxes imposed from Whitehall.”

The Environment Agency has now issued guidance to recycling firm to ensure that they store recycling safely and legally.

The agency said householders could help to tackle the problem by giving more recycled goods, such as books, old television sets and video games consoles, to second hand shops.

Go to the Telegraph Newspaper for the full article here.

The organisers of the top Waste and resource management conference are once again seeking papers from experts in their fields. To write a good quality paper and present it at the conference is the very best self publicity for yourself and your company. Now is your chance to start by submitting your abstract for consideration.

Get started now – there is not much time!

SYMPOSIUM THEMES

The Symposium will last five days and will deal with municipal and commercial solid waste, hazardous waste and special waste including the following topics:

A. Waste policy and legislation National and regional guidelines; regulation and planning
requirements; role of scientific and technical bodies as well as associations.
B. Waste management strategies Integrated waste management; national and local strategies; zero waste management; future perspectives.
C. Public participation and education
Public involvement; NGO activities; mediation; education; communication; training in waste management and operation, public and occupational health impacts of waste management.
D. Waste management assessment and decision tools
Life cycle analysis; risk assessment; environmental impact assessment; EMAS; quality control procedures; cost benefit analysis; multi-criteria analysis; auditing.
E. Waste characterisation as a tool for waste management
strategies
Standardisation; analytical procedures.
F. New concepts for waste collection
Cost optimisation; on-demand collection; separate collection;subsurface systems; case studies.
G. Waste minimisation and recycling
Waste avoidance; waste logistics and recycling; new recycling technologies; material quality after recycling; packaging material; electronic waste; construction and demolition waste; batteries; end of life vehicles; market waste.
H. Biological treatment
New developments in composting and anaerobic digestion; emissions from processing facilities; product quality.
I. Thermal treatment and advanced conversion technologies
Technology and experiences; new technologies; production and use of RDF; emission control; reatment of residues; beneficial use of combustion ash.
L. Mechanical biological treatment prior to landfilling
Mechanical pretreatment (separation, shredding, RDF-production, etc.); technology and experience; new technology, testing and landfill acceptance; off gas treatment; emission control.
M. Sanitary landfilling
Sustainable landfill concepts for municipal and special waste; processes and emissions; leachate and gas management; landfill design and construction; barrier design and long-term performance; waste mechanics; landfill operation; administrative and financial aspects;
landfilling under specific conditions (tropical, islands, mountains, etc.); aftercare and reuse; landfill remediation; cost studies; cases.
N. Integrated wastewater and solid waste management
Decentralized systems; closed substance cycles; future perspectives; cases.
O. Waste management and climate change
Minimisation of greenhouse gases from waste management activities and landfills, waste – CDM projects, minimisation of energy consumption, landfills as geological sinks for carbon and other elements.
P. Waste management in developing and low income countries
Appropriate technologies, experiences, international cooperation, financing, education.
Q. Special sessions
BAT – Best Available Technologies; IPPC regulations.

Due to their relevance, all these subjects will be presented in general sessions, specialised sessions, workshops and poster sessions. Offers of papers for workshops are also welcome.

An extended abstract (at least one but no more than two full pages) should reach the Organization no later than January 30th 2009.

Continuously updated information is available on the web page http://www.sardiniasymposium.it

The aim of the review is to provide a more risk based and proportionate approach to the regulation of waste recovery and disposal operations, complementing the new environmental permitting regime.

The consultation detailing these proposed changes was released on 31 July 2008 and the closing date for responses is 23 October 2008.
The consultation package can be found here.