2 2 WASTE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLING WASTE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLING
The
rules of
engagement
As the waste hierarchy moves from theory to As the waste hierarchy moves from theory to practice, Lucy Siegle argues its infl uence should argues its infl uence should e waste strategiese waste strategiespersist in future waste strategiespersist in future waste strategieschy moves from theory to chy moves from theory to gues its infl uence should gues its infl uence should Tmanagement industry, is that ecologi-cal redemption is possible for everyone and every material stream. The aim is simple: to move waste The ethat manag
streams in an upward trajectory, from disposal to recycling to reduction, until the bottom tier (disposal) is effectively unnecessary - leading to the elimina-tion of waste. You could say that the waste industry’s ultimate objective, ac-cording to the hierarchy, is to render itself obsolete. How fast and far can the UK get to the top of the waste hierarchy, however, remains to be seen. Currently we’re somewhere in the middle preoccupied with recycling and dipping a toe into re-use (the rung above). Liz Goodwin, CEO of the Waste Re-sources Action Programme (WRAP) is sometimes referred to as the UK’s fi rst lady of recycling. She is keen for us all to embrace the upper blocks of the waste hierarchy (diagram, right), mini-The great thing about the waste hi-Terarchy, the fi ve step programme Tthat underpins today’s waste mization and ultimately prevention. mization and ultimately prevention. “WRAP was originally set up to focus “WRAP was originally set up to focus on recycling,” she says, “but as society’s on recycling,” she says, “but as society’s understanding of waste has evolved, so understanding of waste has evolved, so has our mission. Prevention and mini-has our mission. Prevention and mini-misation through source misation through source mizatmizatundeundehas has misatmisathe he waste waste eco-effi ciency and clever re-use are key. eco-effi ciency and clever re-use are key. The hierarchy underpins this. After all, The hierarchy underpins this. After all, waste that isn’t created does not need to waste that isn’t created does not need to be dealt with.In fact, the ladder: Lansinkeponymous chemist, c‘‘Prminimisation through soureco-effi re-use ar
Prevention and minimisation ‘‘through source reduction,‘‘eco-effi ciency and clever ‘‘re-use are keybe dealt with.”‘‘In fact, the whole notion began as a ‘‘ladder: Lansink’s Ladder. In 1979, the ‘‘eponymous Dr Ad Lansink, a Dutch ‘‘chemist, conceptualized a preferred ‘‘system of dealing with waste. It is based on the precautionary principle and his own studies of reversible and irrevers-ible thermodynamics. Since then, it has is is dinary outreach in the UK. Its in-dinary outreach in the UK. Its in-fl uence fl uence everywhere. Any waste everywhere. Any waste projects in search of PFI credits must follow the principles of the waste hier-archy. When the Welsh Assembly was looking for a means of reducing Wales’s ecological footprint 5.16 global hectares per person, waste became a prime consideration. “Our new waste strategy EU revised Waste Framework Direc-EU revised Waste Framework Direc-tive was it promoted from a ‘guiding tive was it promoted from a ‘guiding principle’ to a ‘priority order’. Nor is it sacrosanct. Its pre-eminence from a current follows the waste hierarchy to the letter,” says Welsh environment minister, Jane Dav-idson, “..with our ecological footprint modeling backing up the hierarchy. We are probably the fi rst government in-stitution in the world to model waste options using ecological footprint WASTE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLINGPublisher Henry EmbletonContributors Will Rankin, Lucy Siegle,Tom Freyberg, Mark Faithful and Tom RowlandFor more information about Raconteur Media publications in The Times and The Sunday Times, please contact Freddie Ossberg T: 020 7033 2100 E: info@raconteurmedia.co.uk W: www.raconteurmedia.co.ukwas challenged by Denmark’s Envi-ronmental Assessment Institute (EAI), which concluded a 2005 report by spec-ifying that the waste hierarchy should be used as “a very general and fl exible guideline” for formulating policies. Similarly, other critics have suggested that the hierarchy is too rigid, giving insuffi cient attention to energy from waste solutions and thus promoting re-covery in the region. Such a case would lead to a situation where we might col-lect plastics in Dorset and re-process landfi ll sites, which collect methane.landfi ll sites, which collect methane.Inevitably it will be tweaked, as dif-Inevitably it will be tweaked, as dif-ferent technologies jostle for increased ferent technologies jostle for increased environmental status (namely energy environmental status (namely energy from waste plants), but the waste hi-from waste plants), but the waste hi-starters, there is a distinct absence ofstarters, there is a distinct absence ofscraped the surface. scraped the surface. The challenge now is to exploit and articulate the top sections of the hier-archy. This would in turn minimize re-sources used in the fi rst place, get more bang for our buck in terms of material input, change manufacturing technol-ogy and design out-waste. That’s how revolution is made. Published in association withDistributed inThe information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources the proprietors believe to be correct. However, no legal liability can be accepted for any errors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the Publisher. © RACONTEUR MEDIA