Date: 01 December 2008

Embargo: None

ESA at the Environment Agency Annual Conference

ESA’s seminar on “Waste Regulation: Resource, Recovery and Reuse” was a feature of the Environment Agency’s Annual Conference at the QEII Conference Centre in London last week (Monday 24 November 2008).

ESA Chairman Richard Skehens chaired the seminar and highlighted the importance of aligning economic and environmental sustainability, and the need for reliable metrics to inform investment decisions in the waste and resource management sector.

Gill Weeks, Regulatory Affairs Director at Veolia noted that the landfill diversion targets remained a key driver for the sector and stressed the importance of accurately measuring performance against the targets. Ms Weeks noted that high recycling levels were not adversely impacted by high incineration levels, citing examples from EU Member States, such as Denmark and France, as well as the example of the Hampshire County Council/Veolia ‘Project Integra’ which had achieved 87% diversion from landfill, annual processing of over 125,000 tonnes of recyclates and annual composting of over 95,000 tonnes of green waste.

Ross Hilliard, Director of Compliance and Risk Management, Shanks Group Plc, noted the importance of landfill tax as a driver for diverting waste from landfill and highlighted a number of case studies demonstrating how the sector was extracting more value from waste. Mr Hilliard emphasised three key drivers for increasing resource recovery: robust and consistent regulation, effective fiscal instruments, such as landfill tax and reliable markets for recyclates.

Closing the seminar, Liz Parkes, Head of Waste at the Environment Agency, stressed the need for focussing more attention on the recycling and recovery of commercial and industrial waste, to complement the existing focus on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Ms Parkes also noted the increasing importance of achieving high quality specifications for recycled material in order to increase public confidence in recycling.

Ends