^{Date:              14 November 2008
Embargo:       None}

ESA at the Efra Select Committee Inquiry into Waste Strategy 2007

This week it was ESA’s turn to give oral evidence to the EFRA Select Committee on their inquiry into the Waste Strategy 2007, represented by Chairman Richard Skehens, to strengthen ESA’s voice on the need for improvements to planning, Chief Executive Dirk Hazell, and Gill Weeks of ESA’s Regulation Committee and Veolia’s Director of Regulation.

At the request of the Committee, ESA also submitted supplementary written evidence noting that the new Waste Framework Directive requires Member States to develop national waste prevention programmes and that HMG should be bolder in promoting extended producer responsibility. ESA also stated that, given the shortfall in infrastructure and slow pace of public procurement, we are not as optimistic as the Government that the long term landfill diversion targets would be met, unless the planning system allowed delivery of the necessary infrastructure.

ESA’s supplementary evidence also confirmed, as predicted in ESA’s original written evidence of 2007, that the new Waste Framework Directive (WFD) had not modified the tried and tested EU definition of waste and that first the Rapporteur, and then the European Parliament and Council, had accepted ESA’s advice that there should not be significant de-regulation of business waste, including hazardous waste, by adopting a broader definition of “by-products”, than that developed by the European Court of Justice.

ENDS