Waste management in the West of England
South Gloucestershire, along with the three other councils* in this area, wants to develop sustainable, efficient and cost effective ways of dealing with the residual waste which cannot be recycled or composted. (*Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and North Somerset – the four are collectively known as the West of England Partnership)
This is because sending waste to landfill is no longer regarded as a sustainable option. In South Gloucestershire there is very little landfill space available and we now know that landfill waste emits methane – a very potent greenhouse gas. Modern waste management methods allow us better ways of dealing with ‘residual’ waste which enable some value to be recovered from the waste we throw away. Europe wide directives to encourage better waste management include fining those councils who continue to send more than their permitted allowance of biodegradable waste to landfill.
Since 2006 we have worked closely with our neighbouring councils to create a Joint Waste Strategy for the West of England which will set down a way in which we can deal with waste for the next 20 -25 years.
To help with this and to gauge public opinion two major consultations were held. The first, in 2006, raised awareness about waste and used the name ‘Rubbish or Resource?’ to succinctly describe the key issue. A more detailed ‘Issues and Options’ consultation took place in 2007 in which the public had the opportunity to consider seven technology options. The results from this consultation were published in October 2007.
Since then, councillors and scrutiny panel members from all the four authorities have considered the draft Joint Waste Strategy and recommendations were made to each council that this should be adopted.
For more information about the Joint Waste Strategy visit the dedicated web site www.rubbishorresource.co.uk