Waste Management
The West of England area has very few facilities for dealing with residual waste - the left over rubbish which cannot be re-used, recycled or composted.
Currently our rubbish is sent to landfill sites elsewhere in the country - wasting a potential resource and damaging the environment. European laws will soon impose heavy fines on councils who send too much biodegradeable waste to landfill.
For the last three years the four West of England councils have been working together to find the best ways of reducing the amount of rubbish, increasing the amount which is recycled and finding ways to divert waste from landfill. In 2007 we consulted with the public and sought expert help from specialists in the industry. Read the issues and options consultation documents - one and two. We have also looked at what other councils do and at how waste is managed in other parts of the world.
As a result of partnership working the four West of England councils are set to save £44 million over the next five years, and reduce the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill by 75%, thanks to a waste management contract awarded to Dorset company New Earth Solutions...read more..
The Government is imposing fines on all councils that send more than their permitted allowance to landfill. If we fail to take action these fines will make a very real impact on council finances so there is an urgent need to find workable and cost-effective solutions. Working in Partnership offers economic, environmental and social advantages such as:
Maximising economies of scale;
Minimising environmental impacts;
Minimising transport requirements; and
Providing best value for the tax payer.
The partnership councils are working hard to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.This table shows the figures for waste disposal in 2008/9 - all councils have to make these National Indicators available - read more about National Indicators
| Bristol | South Glos | North Som | B&NES | |
| NI 191 - Residual household waste per household (kg) | 581 | 719 | 729 | 609 |
| NI 192 - Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling & composting | 35.5% | 39.8% | 36.75% | 42.6% |
| NI 193 - Percentage of Municipal Waste landfilled | 62.9% | 56.4% | 62.34% | 57.1% |
See the Love Food Hate Waste pages for hints and tips on how you can help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
A jointly produced Waste Strategy has been adopted by all four councils which sets out a 'four-phased' plan to deal with waste for 20 years or more. Read the full 129 page Joint Residual Municipal Waste Management Strategy, or the shorter summary version
For more information see the national Waste Strategy for England 2007
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The waste strategy is based on the waste hierarchy and its key aspects of 'reduce, reuse, recycle'. |
In addition to the Waste Strategy for the management of waste a Joint Waste Development Plan is being drawn up which will assist in identifying suitable locations for any new waste facilities. The Development Plan, or Joint Waste Core Strategy, is about the where, not the how of waste disposal and takes into account not just the residual waste produced by householders, but also the much larger amount of waste produced by commerce and industry.