CIWM conference tackles the issues that are shaping the future of the industry

18 May 2012

Is the waste industry seen as part of the green economy? What does 'zero waste' mean in the real world? Is the waste planning policy landscape any clearer yet? And what challenges lie ahead for local authority waste services? These are just some of the questions that will be explored at this year's CIWM Conference in partnership with ESA 2012, taking place in London on 12^th and 13^th June.

Setting the scene and exploring the role of the waste industry in creating a greener economy, the opening 'Question Time' style debate will bring together policy, economic, waste and resource experts, including Alan Seatter, Deputy Director-General for the Environment at the European Commission, and Dimitri Zenghelis, who headed up the Stern Review team in 2007/08 and is now Chief Economist at the Cisco Climate Change Practice.

Coming 24 hours before the Judicial Review on the way the Government has transposed the requirement for 'separate collections' in the Waste Framework Directive into English law, the session on Material and Markets is also certain to give rise to some lively discussion, with speakers including Herman van der Meij, Director of Viridor Resource Management, Ray Georgeson of the Resource Association, and Nick Brown of Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd

The first afternoon then kicks off with a keynote address from waste minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach and a session exploring what the UK's 'zero waste' aspirations really mean, with speakers including Defra's new Director of Climate, Waste and Atmosphere, Dr Colin Church, and Ed Mitchell, Director of Environment and Business at the Environment Agency and Mark Dredge of Ford Europe.

The big challenges affecting the industry in the here and now are the headline topics on day two, with sessions looking at local authority and business waste issues, and local government minister Bob Neill MP giving a keynote speech. In the afternoon, planning tops the bill with speakers including Mark Plummer from the Department for Communities and Local Government, who will provide an update on the National Planning Policy Framework, the revision of PPS10 and thoughts on how these will tie in with Defra's National Waste Management Plan. We then take a look at important developments where waste meets the energy, green economy and resource security agendas, with a panel that includes Sarah Rhodes, Head of Land-based Renewables, at the Department for Energy and Climate Change and Adrian Judge, Executive Director for UK Green Investments, the forerunner to the Green Investment Bank.

"Working in partnership and building on the highly successful first joint conference last year, CIWM and ESA have designed this year's conference programme to address both the current issues that are shaping our industry and the longer term questions about the direction of travel and the role of our industry in tackling big ticket items including energy and resource security and low carbon growth," says CIWM chief executive Steve Lee.

More information and booking details can be found at www.ciwmconferences.com

ENDS

Notes to Editors:
1. The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) is the leading professional body for the waste management sector representing over 7000 individuals in the UK and overseas. Established in 1898, CIWM is a non profit-making organisation, dedicated to the promotion of professional competence amongst waste managers. CIWM seeks to raise standards for those working in and with the sector by producing best practice guidance, developing educational and training initiatives, and providing information on key waste-related issues. Comprehensive information about CIWM can be found at www.ciwm.co.uk

2. The Environmental Services Association (ESA) is the UK's trade association for the waste and secondary resource management sector, an industry accounting for 0.8% of GDP. Its members are organisations providing essential services to the private and public sector, and they lead the way in modernising the UK's waste management sector. ESA aims to promote the development of an economically and environmentally sustainable waste and secondary resource management industry for the UK and EU. It works with government in the UK and the European Union to achieve its aims. More detail about ESA is available at www.esauk.org

Press contacts:
Pat Jennings
CIWM Communications Office
Tel: 01604 620426
Mob: 07912 228260
E-mail: pat.jennings@ciwm.co.uk