Waste management in the West of England
Overview
South Gloucestershire, together with Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and North Somerset Councils (the West of England Partnership), is committed to sustainable, efficient and cost effective ways of dealing with the residual waste which cannot be recycled or composted. This is because sending waste to landfill is no longer regarded as an environmental nor financially sustainable option.
Landfilling waste emits methane – a very potent greenhouse gas and in South Gloucestershire there is very little landfill space available meaning the waste has to be transported to landfill sites well outside the Council area.
In addition, landfill tax which is now at £56 per tonne, will continue to rise by £8 per tonne until at least 2020 which it reaches £80 per tonne.
Modern waste management methods provide us with better ways of dealing with ‘residual’ waste, which is what is left over when we have recycled as much as we can. This residual waste can be treated further to enable some value to be recovered from the waste we throw away.
A jointly produced Waste Strategy has been adopted by all four councils which sets out a 'four-phased' plan to deal with waste for 20 years or more. Read the full Joint Municipal Waste Strategy 129 page document at http://www.westofengland.org/media/103810/woe_joint_waste_strategy_may2008_long.pdf
or the shorter summary version at http://www.westofengland.org/media/103813/waste_strategy_summary_short.pdf
http://www.westofengland.org/waste/waste-management
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
All four councils will co-operate to develop a rolling programme of joint waste prevention, education and promotional campaigns to reduce waste, encourage re-use and increase recycling and composting. In addition, each of the councils will individually improve its local services and have committed to increase public participation in recycling and re-use initiatives.
Waste Treatment Contract
Working in partnership, the four Councils have procured a contract which will treat 120,000 tonnes per year and reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent for landfill disposal by 75%.
The contract was awarded to New Earth Solutions (NES) for mechanical, biological treatment (MBT). NES has developed a MBT treatment plant at Kings Weston Lane, Avonmouth and delivery of waste started in April 2011. For more information on New Earth Solutions and the development at Avonmouth, please go to their website shown opposite.
South Gloucestershire Council has committed 40,000 tonnes to the contract (around 90% of black bin waste) making a significant contribution to landfill diversion.