CIWM would like to use cookies to store information on your computer, to improve our website. One of the cookies we use is essential for parts of the site to operate and has already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but parts of the site will not work. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our CIWM Privacy Policy.

CIWM
You are here: CIWM  >  Media Centre  >  Press Releases Archive  >  Press Releases 2011  >  Press Release 23 June 2011

Press Release 23 June 2011

CIWM

CIWM co-hosts Parliamentary Reception on Waste Policy Review

CIWM and other key stakeholders in the waste industry had a chance this week (Tuesday 21st June) to comment on Defra's Waste Policy Review and question Lord Henley in more depth at a Parliamentary Reception co-sponsored by CIWM.

"Much progress has been made since 2001," Lord Henley said, "and we've now got household waste up to about 40 percent [recycling] and building and construction waste up to about 50 percent. That is significant progress that we want to build on and we want to go further and faster than before."

Using the same phrase as the Secretary of State Caroline Spelman when she spoke at the CIWM conference last week, Lord Henley added that "there is no 'silver bullet' for waste and that the Review contains a whole range of measures designed to move England closer to being a zero waste society.

Speaking after Lord Henley, CIWM chief executive Steve Lee welcomed the fact that the review has acknowledged the bigger picture and goes some way to underlining the role of sustainable waste management in addressing wider environmental and resource management challenges, including energy diversity and climate change. However, he called it a 'tepid' vision without any real ambition.

"I think we have a Policy Review that answers the question 'Do the policies we have… steer the English into bare compliance with our obligations and a number of waste-related EU directives? And by and large, the answer to that question is 'yes'."

"However… it strikes me that this is a country setting itself out to be one of the pack in Europe; not to be a thought leader, not to be an excellent performer, not capitalising on true resource efficiency in all of our sectors… Only time will tell whether this is a prudent Policy Review in constrained times… or a lost opportunity in what should be an industry with true green growth credentials."

He concluded by responding to Lord Henley's comment that Defra wants to talk to all sectors of the industry to bring all the plans in the Waste Policy Review to fruition, saying:

"There is a lot more to do and we should not be expecting Government to push us reluctantly up the performance 'hill'. Our industry can and should pick up the baton. We should strive to deliver our true contribution to more sustainable living rather than just hitting EU minimum standards."

More information on the Parliamentary Reception and the Waste Policy Review can be found in the July issue of the CIWM Journal, due out shortly.

ENDS


Contact:

Pat Jennings
CIWM Communications Office
Tel: 01604 620426
E-mail: pat.jennings@ciwm.co.uk