Budgeting for UK Waste Infrastructure?

Posted by Adam Read, Practice Director: Resource Efficiency & Waste Management on 15 December 2011

It’s been a few weeks since George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, launched his Autumn Statement. This was probably not a landmark day for those of us employed in the waste sector, as we continue to fear for the delivery of sustainable collection services and the necessary infrastructure to help us meet our EU Directive targets in a world facing budget cuts and funding worries. However, he also announced the publication of a National Infrastructure Plan setting out the government’s strategy for developing infrastructure across many sectors, including waste management.

 

This National Infrastructure Plan is designed to grow the private sector in parts of the country by improving access and support infrastructure, whether this be roads, railways, power stations or broadband coverage. These are important issues, and ones that I can empathise with given my rural location and my ongoing problems with internet access, regular power cuts and limited access to rail and road connections, but unlike some I chose to live where I do so I can’t criticise too much!

 

Joined up infrastructure?

Personally, I am strong supporter of the need to consider UK infrastructure needs in a strategic and joined up way. Only 2 years ago I was involved in a study for the UK Government looking at the inter-dependencies of different UK infrastructure sectors and how reliant they all are on one another. However, for all the fanfare associated with the 500 or so major infrastructure projects to be delivered over the next decade, the waste sector was only considered as a sub-set of the environment sector whilst transport, communications and energy all had their own sections – it seems the waste sector remains the Cinderella sector in the eyes of this Government like many before them.

 

But ask the public if they  could cope with a break in internet provision, or if they want a new ring road or a weekly collection of their waste and we all know which one they will opt for – waste management every time! So why are we just a sub-set of this policy agenda?

 

Waste could provide a significant proportion of UK renewable energy. Waste if not collected becomes a cause of public health. Waste is in fact an amalgamation of valuable resources in the wrong place or wrong ownership – so why not more emphasis on recovering the value of this material and putting infrastructure in place to ensure this happens?

 

The Government’s Plan

In the plan the Government state they are aiming to move to a ‘zero waste economy’ where material is reused, recycled or recovered wherever possible, and only disposed of as a last resort. It says that it is important to have appropriate waste reprocessing and treatment infrastructure built and operated effectively ‘at all levels of the waste hierarchy to enable the most efficient treatment of waste and resources, as well as the best use of innovations in science and technology.’

This is all good policy, but where is the action plan that will help deliver it? We have reductions in PFI spending, we have restrictions on local government budgets and we have a planning system that can stagnate even the best of proposals. Yes there may be a new Cabinet Planning Committee to help the 40 most strategic infrastructure projects get through, but I can’t see it helping Bedfordshire, Cornwall, North Wales, or most notably Norfolk sort out their waste infrastructure planning issues. 

 

It is OK for the Chancellor to note that he has spent (or committed) £2 billion waste infrastructure grants, altered the definition of MSW to allow C&I recycling to count against our targets etc. But much of this is historical, where is the leadership we all want to make waste management (sorry resource management) a core UK infrastructure sector?

 

Missing an opportunity?

Previous estimates suggest that £7.5 billion of capital investment in waste infrastructure is required to meet EU landfill diversion targets by 2020 – and time is ticking. This new infrastructure could generate 25,000 permanent new jobs and add £2 billion to the UK's GDP. However, the current proposals from UK Government do not give us any certainty as to how they will unlock this potential, or if they even recognise this value?

 

If anything it just confirms what we have all known from some time, the role of waste management is to remain in the shadow of the transport and energy sectors when it could offer so much more to UK plc in terms of value, but given the current recession i suspect the UK Government would like us to continue to spend, spend, spend – after all we are well into the January sales! Perhaps the New Year will bring a new appreciation by UK Government of the importance, role and significance of the waste sector?

Let me know what you think …