Towards a Municipal Waste Strategy for Newcastle Council 2005 2025

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Towards a Municipal Waste Strategy for Newcastle
Council2005 - 2025
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The current approach to waste management in
Newcastle
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How much waste?

• The City Council collected 180,000 tonnes in
  2005/6
• 130,000 tonnes was generated by residents
• The rest came from the Council itself and
  business that use the Council

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Household waste

• The 130,000 tonnes of household waste comes from
  6 main sources
• Wheelie bin collections
• Bulky item collections
• Household waste recycling centres
• Street sweepings
• Black Box recycling
• Other Recycling schemes

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Wheelie bin waste

• Nearly 90,000 tonnes
• Waste from homes that cant go in the black box
• Collected by refuse vehicle and taken to
  Newcastle Resource Recovery centre
• Organic waste separated and sent for composting
  and metals removed (about 35)
• Rest sent to landfill (about 65)

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Bulky items

• About 9,000 tonnes
• Old furniture, DIY waste etc.
• Collected by refuse vehicle and taken to
  contractors in Wallsend
• Aim to recycle at least 25
• Rest sent to landfill

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Household waste recycling centres

• About 17,000 tonnes
• 4 Sites Benwell, Byker Brunswick and Wallbottle
• Garden waste, wood, scrap metal, soil and rubble,
  cardboard, paper, glass and more recycled
• Over 40 recycled
• Rest sent to landfill

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Street sweepings

• About 4,000 tonnes
• Mostly taken to landfill with other waste
• New system to recycle grit being tested
• On street recycling for paper, cans and plastics
  in City Centre

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Black box recycling

• About 8,000 tonnes
• Glass, plastic bottles, cans, paper, textiles,
  batteries
• Collected by SITA
• Sent to various reprocessors

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Other recycling

• About 3,000 tonnes
• Recycling bring sites
• High rise recycling
• Garden waste collection pilot
• Charities

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Towards a Municipal Waste Strategy for Newcastle
Council2005 - 2025
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Presentation AWhy must we change the way we
deal with waste?

• Dr Stuart McLanaghan
• Associates in Industrial Ecology Ltd
• Presentation to Newcastle Citizens Panel - 8th
  June 2006
• Presentation to Stakeholders Panel - 9th June
  2006
• Mansion House, Newcastle

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Contents

• Local and national trends in waste disposal (past
  and future)
• How is Newcastles waste collected, where does it
  currently go and why?
• Why must we change the way we deal with waste?
• Government requirement to produce a strategy and
  consult

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Local and national trends in waste disposal
(past and future)
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Pre-Industrial revolution hunter gatherers

• low population densities
• waste types ash, wood, bones, vegetables/vegetati
  on and bodily wastes - (beneficially) disposed
  to land
• scarcity underpinned re-use ethos
• wastes left behind when people moved on

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Pre-industrial revolution farmers and
settlements

• higher population densities, less nomadic people
  presented new problems - waste could not so
  easily be left behind!
• valuable materials recycled e.g. bronze, textiles
  leather
• goods repaired and re-used
• farming organic with recycling of animal and
  human waste nutrients

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Industrial Revolution

• (late 1700s onwards) mass migration to
  conurbations high population densities
• corresponding increase in municipal waste and
  large amounts of new industrial wastes
• presence of food and human wastes initiated
  disease transfer and hazard
• ..a solution was needed!

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UK early legislative developments

• 1875 Public Health Act
• 1907 Public Health Act (1875 amended)
• 1936 Public Health Act

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UK more recent policy developments

• 1956 Clean Air Act
• Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act 1972
• Control of Pollution Act 1974
• This Common Inheritance White Paper
• 1995 The Environment Act
• 1996 Making Waste Work
• 1999 A Way with Waste
• 2000 National Waste Strategy 2000
• 2002 Strategy Unit Waste Not Want Not
• 2003 Waste and Emissions Trading Act

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EU-Environmental Policy

• over 300 pieces of environmental legislation
• 1975 Framework Directive on Waste
• policy becoming more thematic (e.g. Waste
  Prevention Recycling)
• 75 UK legislation originates in Brussels

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The future

• major policy shift on waste, resources and
  production
• obtaining value from waste as resources
• closer linking of recycling to economic activity
• minimising energy material inputs within
  products and services
• low carbon-economy
• reduced hazardousness of material
• linking waste production to resource use

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How is Newcastles waste collected?

• 2005/06 NCC collected 180,000 tonnes
• 130,000 tonnes household waste generated by
  residents
• remainder from Council itself businesses using
  Council services

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Household waste 130,000 tonnes p.a.
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Current approach to waste management in Newcastle

• contracts in place intended to deliver recycling
  and LATS targets between 2005/06 to around 2008/9
  through
• kerb-side recycling
• mechanical biological treatment (MBT)
• in-vessel composting of residual waste and
• landfill

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Nationally why must we change the way we deal
with waste?

• landfill a waste of resources -
  environmentally and economically questionable
• EU-Landfill Directive requirements between
  2009/10 and 2019/20
• LATS penalties implications for other areas of
  public service delivery
• need to view wastes as resources
• facilities geared towards regional resource needs
• do nothing - not an option

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Locally why must we change the way we deal with
waste?

• improbable recycling can deliver LATS from
  2009/10 performance needed in excess of English
  best practice
• however, considerable scope to improve front-end
  collection
• LATS targets could be met up to and including
  2010/11
• from 20011/12, LATS targets could not be met
• by 2020, even if recycling mirrors best
  authorities, diversion shortfall of up to 71,000
  tonnes
• aggregated LATS penalties of c.35M
• THEREFORE case for residual waste treatment is
  compelling

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NCCs landfill diversion targets
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Government requirement to produce a strategy and
consult

• National Waste Strategy 2000 background to NCCs
  own Waste Strategy
• Sections 32 33 of Waste Emissions Trading Act
  outlines responsibilities
• even if not mandatory, Government has indicated
  all authorities should have such a Strategy in
  place
• May 05, NCC agreed Waste Strategy Action Plan
  includes
• commitment to examine front-end options for
  maximising recycling composting and
• strategic solutions available for treating
  gaining value from remaining waste

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Towards a Municipal Waste Strategy for Newcastle
Council2005 - 2025
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Can we reduce the amount we throw out?
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Presentation BUnderstanding key elements of the
waste strategy

• Dr Stuart McLanaghan
• Associates in Industrial Ecology Ltd
• Presentation to Newcastle Citizens Panel
• Mansion House, Newcastle
• 8th June 2006

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Contents

• Introduction to the Waste Hierarchy concept of
  inversion
• key descriptors of residual waste treatments

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Waste Hierarchy
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Understanding elements of the Waste Hierarchy

• Inversion need to move away from bottom-up
  approach
• consider the practical extent to which the amount
  of waste produced can be reduced
• Authorities then repeat the process for each
  further stage in the hierarchy in turn
• disposal of waste should be seen as the last
  option, but one which must be catered for!
• stages in the hierarchy should not be missed
  without robust and thorough justification

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Introduction to treatment technologies

• no Holy Grail solutions to managing waste
• minimisation collection linked to residual
  waste management
• overall NCC solution probably an integrated
  approach
• no waste technologies ruled in nor out of
  consideration
• all main generic technologies configurations
  considered
• biological (anaerobic digestion and/or
  composting)
• thermal (energy from waste and advanced thermal)
• mechanical heat treatment (autoclaving)
• hybrid (mechanical biological treatment)
• supplier-specific facilities sites not covered
  in SEA

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Towards a Municipal Waste Strategy for Newcastle
Council2005 - 2025
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How do we decide what to do with waste?
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What is an SEA?

• Strategic Environmental Assessment
• Environmental Assessment of Plans Programmes
  Regulation 2004
• Required for statutory documents including
• Local Development Documents
• Waste Strategies
• Defined as formalised, systematic and
  comprehensive process of evaluating environmental
  and other impact
• Government Guidance for SEA

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Stages in the SEA process

• Setting context and objectives deciding on the
  scope
• Consultation of statutory bodies (5-6 weeks)
• Workshops for Citizens Panel and key
  stakeholders
• Elected Members workshop
• Assessment of effects
• Preparation of Environmental Report
• Consultation with public and statutory bodies
• Consultation of public (3 months) and statutory
  bodies
• Monitoring of the effects of the Waste Strategy

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Stage A Scoping stage

• Identify other plans and sustainability
  objectives
• Identify sustainability issues (specific to
  Newcastle)
• Develop assessment framework
• Waste management options for assessment
• Environmental, socio-economic and operational
  criteria
• Scoping report
• Early engagement of public and stakeholders
  important.

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Selecting the criteria

• SEA for Waste Strategy options for long-term
  waste management in Newcastle
• Assume treatment facility in your backyard
• Criteria to assess whole range of waste
  management, e.g.
• Environmental aspects
• Social and economic aspects
• Policy and Waste Strategy targets
• Technology
• We would like to get your ideas and views
• Which criteria are important for Newcastles
  residents?

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Towards a Municipal Waste Strategy for Newcastle
Council2005 - 2025
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Next steps in the process