14/02/2006 - The Environment
Agency today (14 February 2006) welcomed
the Government’s Waste Strategy Review and
called for a national debate on how we are
going to deal with waste in the 21st Century.
Martin Brocklehurst, Head of Waste Strategy
at the Environment Agency said:
"We are pleased to see that the Government
has published a fundamental review looking
at both waste produced by households and
business.
We have tough targets to meet - with £10
billion of investment predicted just to
meet the landfill diversion targets for
household rubbish, we clearly need to find
better ways of reducing the amount we generate.
As a society we have also been producing
more waste - it has been growing by 3% year
on year since 1997. This strategy makes
clear that as a nation we must change our
behaviour. We need to see an end to our
throw away society and produce less waste
in the first place. We also need to take
on the challenge of recovering and recycling
our waste into resources which will benefit
us all."
The Environment Agency is highlighting
key areas in the Waste Strategy which will
help manage waste in the future including
the need to:
Streamline waste legislation; clearer,
simpler regulations help industry and regulators
alike whilst still ensuring protection of
the environment.
Establish and fund voluntary producer responsibility
schemes for businesses and industry, such
as HAZRED. It has been estimated that reducing
the amount of waste produced could save
businesses and industry over £3bn
a year.
Establish clear reduction targets for waste
currently still sent to landfills;
Establish and fund stronger partnerships
between business and regulators to tackle
waste illegal crime; and
Set up a strong implementation plan to
deliver targets outlined in the consultation
paper.
Ends
Notes for editors 1.The Waste Strategy
Review consultation runs for 12 weeks and
applies to England only - Wales & Scotland
have their own strategies. Further information
available at the Defra website.
2. HAZRED is a three-year European project
co-financed by the EU LIFE Environment Programme,
the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency, the Irish Environmental
Protection Agency, the Welsh Assembly Government,
Envirowise, the Groundwork Foundation, Safety-Kleen
and the Waste Recycling Group. The project,
based in the UK and led by the Environment
Agency, aims to assist in preventing and
reducing hazardous wastes produced by small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), helping
them to reduce costs in the process. The
total value of the project is €1,496,282.
The HAZRED project aims to demonstrate
the benefits of setting waste reduction
targets and developing waste reduction plans
in partnership with key industry sectors,
particularly those with a high proportion
of small businesses. SMEs will be targeted
as they tend to have the least access to
environmental guidance and a lack of environmental
awareness.
