Jamie Reed Calls For Action To Follow ASPERG Report

7 September 2011

Jamie Reed MP, Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs described the report as a "timely document" that needs to be read and its lessons understood on a national level and that "actions should surely follow"

"Its findings need to be acknowledged and actions should surely follow as a result, as despite the widespread disappointment with the waste review, the issues surrounding resources sustainability are surely above party politics," he said.　　

Jamie went on to suggest that in some cases "noble sentiments" have lead to underwhelming policy action. "Put simply, rubbish is a resource we cannot afford to squander by burying it in the ground, more infrastructure is needed to deal with our waste not only so that we can do more with this valuable source of energy and materials but so as we can avoid paying millions of pounds in landfill tax to the EU."　　

"Resource management is one of the single most important areas where ferocious innovation is needed, so this will require politicians, innovators and businesses to think and act together in new and different ways. This is the sweet spot - the point at which environmental and economic policies."　

The Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group (ASPERG) report, released yesterday (6 September) identifies an investment of £8bn by 2020 and £15bn by 2030 is needed if waste reduction targets are to be met.

"We know what the opportunities and the challenges are and that we need to accelerate in this policy area and we know that this is not a matter of choice but of necessity. The question then is; what are we waiting for?"

Nigel Aitchison, Industrial Partner, Foresight Group said: "New and innovative ways of providing a framework of certainty and new sources of finance is an imperative to achieving society's ambition of managing our waste in an increasingly sustainable manner and the Foresight Environmental Fund is one source of that innovative financing.

Foresight has already invested £60m from its existing VCT and EIS funds within the waste and renewable energy sector, which Nigel said led them to manage this specific waste fund focusing on projects that are part of local authority contracts and merchant based facilities.

"Regardless of whether you take a more merchant approach to such facilities one is still faced with more macro based issues. The waste management industry is a highly regulated capital-intensive sector however it has a clear political dimension to it as well. Indeed it is the sector where politics meets science - almost everything is scientifically possible but not always politically possible.　

According to Nigel, it's because of this fusion of science and politics that investors need to have confidence that when providing considerable sums of investment that the regulatory and political landscape will remain reasonably stable.

"It is at this high level that investors want two really simple things out of regulation and policy; transparency and longevity," he said. "With these elements in place investors will be attracted to the waste industry and this in turn will create further momentum in the development of new infrastructure. We therefore, very much welcome the report's recommendation of establishing a coordinating committee in respect of government policy."

Darrel Moore