Waste

Wednesday 15th July 2009, Victoria Park Plaza, 08:30 - 16:20

Sustainable Waste Management in the UK: Towards a Zero Waste Strategy

"In order to reduce the amount of waste that is produced it’s vital that you work in partnership with your communities…Communities need clear information and they have the right to be consulted. There is a need to win the hearts and minds and commitment of people as well as to devise the much needed practical solutions to tackle waste as a resource.”

Jane Kennedy MP, Former Minister for Farming and the Environment, 12th November 2008

Overview

Refuse collection is one of the most visible of all council provided services and, therefore, one of the hottest political issues. With much discussion both in and outside of the town hall on alternate waste collection, charging households for the amount of waste they throw away, environmental concern linked to the excessive packaging of consumer products, and the possibility of imposing a levy on single-use, plastic bags, waste management issues have moved towards the top of the news agenda.

Mitigating and adapting to climate change is the key political issue of our time. In 2001, the EU Landfill Directive, set ambitious targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable, municipal waste that is landfilled. By 2010, this amount must be reduced to 75% of the amount produced in 1995; by 2013, it must be reduced by 50% of the amount produced in 1995; finally, by 2020, the amount of waste must be reduced to 35% of the 1995 figure.

Each year the UK produces about 350m tonnes of waste – household, commercial, industrial, construction/demolition and food - that is sent to landfill sites. Despite meeting its 2005 target to recycle 25 per cent of household waste, the UK lags way behind most of its European neighbours on waste recycling. Clearly, a waste management strategy centred on landfill is clearly no longer sustainable. Many landfill sites are likely to reach their full capacity within the next decade, and there is mounting opposition from local communities to the building of incinerators in their neighbourhoods.

The revised EU Waste Framework Directive – that repeals the 2006 Waste Directive; the 1991 Directive on Hazardous Waste, and the 1975 Directive on Waste Oils - will require EU member states to ensure that, by 2020, 50% of all household waste is recycled or reused, and 70% of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste is recycled. The Directive also strongly advocates waste prevention as the preferred waste management strategy followed by resource reuse, recycling, recovery and safe disposal.

From 2008, the Landfill Tax has increased by £8 a tonne each year while, from 2010, local councils face the prospect of being fined £150 per tonne if they exceed their landfill allocation without purchasing further allowances. Finally, the introduction of the Waste Battery Regulations 2009 will introduce stricter rules on the manufacture and recycling of batteries and accumulators (rechargeable batteries) in the UK. Therefore, a plan both to reduce the amount of waste we produce, to increase the amount that we recycle, and the amount of energy that we extract from waste resources must be very quickly brought in to action.

Agenda

08:30	Coffee and Registration
09:20	Chair’s Welcome Address Professor Paul S. Phillips, SITA Centre for Sustainable Waste Management, University of Northampton (CONFIRMED)
09:30	Pathway To Zero Waste Low carbon economy – Green jobs, Green industry, Green technology The change from ‘Waste’ to ‘Resource’ and from waste management to resource management The true cost of waste Holistic approach to deliver resource efficiency Creating Demand – Planning & Procurement Market Development – market failure, improving market mechanism Infrastructure development and funding – perception of waste Teamwork between public and private sectors Dr Chindarat Taylor, Director - Pathway To Zero Waste, a partnership between the Environment Agency, SEEDA and WRAP (CONFIRMED)
09:50	Wise About Waste in Wales Towards 2010: what have we achieved Waste minimisation is the message: winning business and public support by raising awareness campaigns Waste treatment technologies: the establishment of a centre of excellence in waste research Recycling and composting targets Exemplar local authorities Jasper Roberts, Head of Waste Policy and Local Environmental Quality, Welsh Assembly Government (CONFIRMED)
10:10	Towards a Zero Waste Strategy for Scotland Zero Waste: concepts to practicalities Zero Waste Concept Examples of applications Future Action Areas National Policy Services/facilities Regulation Kenny Boag, National Waste Policy Unit Manager, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (CONFIRMED)
10:30	Questions and Answers Session
11:00	Coffee and Networking
11:30	Development of a Waste Strategy to 2031 Waste Planning to 2031 What are the drivers for waste planning? What are the barriers to successful waste planning? New forecasts of waste arisings Waste movements between regions Should planners specify how waste is managed? Deborah Sacks, Waste Planner, East of England Regional Assembly(CONFIRMED)
11:50	Committed to Sustainable Development of Waste and Recycling Services – Bexley Council Awarded Beacon council status for waste and recycling – best borough for recycling in London Providing expert advice and promoting resource recycling, reusing and composting throughout the borough The need for change: draft waste management plan – key commitments Stephen Didsbury, Head of Waste and Street Services, Bexley Council(CONFIRMED)
12:10	Working for a Greener Future: How to Ensure That Waste Policies Optimise Environmental Outcomes, Aiming for a Truly Zero Waste Future Optimising recycling systems, maximising value and markets Taking advantage of anaerobic digestion, Flexible and sustainable residual waste management Avoiding the long contracts trap Dr Michael Warhurst, Senior Waste Campaigner, Friends of the Earth(CONFIRMED)
12:30	Questions and Answers Session
13:00	Lunch and Networking
14:00	Waste Prevention - International Examples of Effective Policies and Practices How to define and measure household waste prevention? Which instruments for which results? Where to exert supply chain pressures? What can stakeholders really do? Achieving behaviour change - carrots or sticks? Kit Strange, Secretary General, Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+)(CONFIRMED)
14:20	Local Authorities: Managing Resources Sustainably Sustainable resource management: invest capital and revenue for both the short and long term Landfill Tax: what have been the effects of the increase on local authorities? National picture: case-study examples of sustainable resource management by local authorities: Effective waste collection systems Sustainable, and waste services procurement Energy from waste Recycling schemes David Greenfield, Assistant Director, Waste Resource Management, Improvement and Efficiency South East (CONFIRMED)
14:40	Coffee and Networking
15:00	A Waste Strategy for Suffolk: Providing Energy from Waste Waste minimisation strategy: driving recycling and composting schemes Working with the not for profit sector Providing energy from waste Attracting a good show of competition from the private sector Interim strategies before you build your own residual waste treatment facility Our ambition to be the Greenest County Bryn Griffiths, Strategic Commissioner Sustainable Environment, Suffolk County Council (CONFIRMED)
15:20	Closing Keynote – Sustainable Living: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme: reaction from local authorities to the introduction of LATS Meeting the cost of change: the impact of the Landfill Tax Escalator Recycling options – the widening range of options, quality issues, collection methodologies and frequencies Incentives for change: reward scheme for residents who increase the amount they recycle Rethinking packaging – optimising materials, funding options, collection and recycling infrastructure John Woodruff, Head of Waste Services, Bromley Council, and Vice-Chair, National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO) (CONFIRMED)
15:40	Questions and Answers Session
16:15	Chair's Summary and Conclusion's
16:20	Close

*programme subject to change without notice

Exhibitors

MGB Plastics

Audience

Delegates will be drawn from the public and private sector; from: central government departments and agencies; local authorities; NHS; third sector organisations; housing organisations; transport sector; marketing and consultants; banking and finance sector; trade unions; think tanks; retailers and employers, academia.

Waste

Wednesday 15th July 2009, Victoria Park Plaza, 08:30 - 16:20

Sustainable Waste Management in the UK: Towards a Zero Waste Strategy

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