BAA concerned over Review of Waste Strategy

IN its response to Defra’s consultation on the Review of Waste Strategy, the British Aggregates Association says it is ‘regrettable’ that the main emphasis appears to be on determining ‘when a waste ceases to be a waste’ rather than not classifying it as such to begin with.

BAA secretary Peter Huxtable expressed concern that more weight has been placed on the bureaucratic mechanisms of how to transfer waste into products rather than the more pragmatic and business-friendly method of not classifying usable materials as waste in the first place. He said this was amply demonstrated in Chapter 5 (96), which states that the quarrying industry produces 95 million tonnes of waste each year.

‘This material actually has beneficial applications and is widely used in restoration and other environmental and society-enhancing applications, such as site bunding and screening,’ said Mr Huxtable. ‘Some of the problems in finding a higher use for these materials have been caused by the ill-considered and environmentally damaging aggregates levy.’

On the question of whether landfill should eventually be the home of last resort, taking only non-biodegradable residues from waste treatment, Mr Huxtable said the position of landfill at the bottom of the waste hierarchy ignored the fact that there are sites, typically previous mineral workings, that need to be restored.

‘There are already considerable difficulties arising from the interpretation by Defra and the Environment Agency following the introduction of the new waste-licensing regime in July 2005. It is obvious that the extraction of virgin minerals for restoration purposes is less environmentally friendly than using suitable ‘waste’ streams. Like the CBI, we believe that landfill will be required as a waste-disposal option for the foreseeable future. Modern, well engineered landfills pose no environmental threat and can provide environmentally friendly fuels.’

Responding to the question of what more government could do to encourage the recovery and recycling of construction and demolition waste, and to accelerate the development of markets for recycled materials, Mr Huxtable argued that market forces should be allowed to determine the future. He called on the Government not to get involved in trying to influence the market for recycled materials, apart from unravelling the problems concerning the new landfill regime.

‘The influence of the landfill tax has made UK the most successful user in the EU of construction and demolition waste by a significant margin,’ he said. ‘There is little further material from our sector to be recycled or reused – short of planned obsolescence!’