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Minister outlines zero landfill-zero waste future for WalesOctober 23, 2008 Minister outlines zero landfill-zero waste future for Wales. Wales is wiser about waste and now needs to step up several gears Environment, Sustainability and Housing Minister Jane Davidson said today (21 October). Ms Davidson outlined her vision for zero waste and zero landfill in a speech to leading recyclers in Wales. The Minister said she was delighted with Wales’s achievements in reducing landfill and increasing the amount of waste that was recycled, reduced or re-used. Ms Davidson told the Cylch conference in Cardiff: "Wales has met its share of the EU target for 2010 two years early, which is a fantastic achievement. So I am confident that the proposed new recycling target of 70% by 2025 is well within our reach. "We are in the process of reviewing our waste strategy and we must set out our stall – perhaps as far ahead as 2050. We need to be realistic about what we can achieve and by when. I am very taken with the concept of ‘zero waste’ but am conscious it means different things to different people. I believe that ‘zero landfill’, or as close to it as possible, is a step along the way to achieving ‘zero waste’." The Minister said that the Assembly Government was currently looking at how to achieve this and reduce the impact on climate change. She said that community activity like the 60 recycling enterprises across Wales supported by Cylch played a key role in delivering the Assembly Government’s waste strategy. She said: "It is important that residual waste is managed in the most sustainable way and that the waste we produce is progressively reduced over time. Then, perhaps, in the more distant future we can contemplate true ‘zero waste – or not producing any waste at all. "The Assembly Government’s Wise About Waste, The National Waste Strategy for Wales is currently being reviewed to take account of the pressures of sustainable development, climate change, ecological footprint and resource efficiency." Ms Davidson continued: "I am following the same trajectory established in Wise About Wales. But now we need to step up several gears." She said that areas that are being looked at and which will go out to consultation in 2009 are exploring the potential for new targets for:
The next major step up will be in food waste and the Assembly
Government is providing an additional £90million for 2008-2011 to
increase the amount of waste that is recycled or composted. This
funding will help local authorities to recycling and compost more. Music to the ears of those that believe waste is created by humans so can it be eliminated by them. The Minister is right to see sustainability as being totally incompatible with waste. But collecting materials is just the start. We must also build infrastructure in Wales to use these materials and goods in new and innovative ways. Cylch has always maintained that using secondary materials collected in Wales is an opportunity to create significant and sustainable benefits for the people of Wales. These Materials Conservation Hubs will be places where materials can be gathered and dealt with in new ways. Cylch is looking forward to working with its Local Authority partners and Welsh Assembly Government to improve that infrastructure, leading with Anaerobic Digestion – the preferred method of dealing with food waste in a way that creates energy. We must get this investment right, right now. Cylch stands ready, its members eager to play their full part given the chance. |
