CPRE GLOUCESTERSHIRE BRANCH Policy Statement Waste Management

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste disposal has to change radically with a large reduction in waste being dumped into landfill sites. Strategically this has lead to all bodies agreeing a waste disposal hierachy:

1. Minimising the amount of waste produced.
2. Re-using directly as much of the waste as possible either for its original purpose or for a new purpose. Examples of original purpose are reusing packages or containers, architectural salvage, second hand shops and furniture recycling projects. Examples of new purposes are using plastic carrier bags as bin liners, jam jars for storage and plastic pots for seed germination.
3. Recovering and recycling waste, for instance recycling metals or building rubble, composting household/garden waste and anaerobic digestion to produce bio gas.
4. Converting waste to energy, for instance by burning in a power station to produce electricity, by producing waste derived fuels, and gasification or pyrolysis.
5. Finally, when all the above have been exhausted, dumping waste in landfill sites with or without recovery of methane or incineration of specialised wastes.

There are a variety of different technical ways to achieve each of these aims. There are also special needs for the disposal of toxic and hazardous wastes. It is not the purpose of this statement to describe these technical systems but suffice it to say that most require large industrial buildings. A description of the technical possibilities is given in the Gloucestershire Waste Plan 2002-2012.

It is also generally accepted that waste should be treated and disposed of as close to its source as possible (the proximity principle) subject to economies of scale and environmental constraints.

CPRE Gloucestershire supports the above strategic approach.

Currently 1.1million tons of waste are produced in Gloucestershire annually. Despite efforts to reduce waste, this amount is expected to increase over the next ten years reflecting increases in economic activity and population. About 70% of the waste goes to landfill. The aim is to reduce this to 50% by 2015. Conversely recovery, recycling and composting is expected to double with composting being the most important. This implies a very significant investment in new facilities.

Currently there are six strategic waste disposal sites and 15 other major local sites in Gloucestershire. The majority of these are in the vale. The County Council believes these sites have the space and capacity to absorb all landfill requirements and to accommodate the new facilities required. However new sites are not precluded and we can expect that there will be proposals for composting closer to the source. Indeed one such site has already been approved on a limited basis.

The strategic and major sites are supplemented by 150 minor sites scattered through the county. About a third of these are sewage works: of the rest the most numerous are metal recovery (vehicle dismantling/scrap metal yards) and transfer stations where waste is sorted prior to on-transport to the appropriate treatment site. In general these smaller sites do not cause concern but it is our policy to view any application to expand these sites or create new ones in the same way we would any other planning application.

Our major concerns with waste disposal sites are that they generate HGV traffic e.g refuse trucks, that new treatment methods may require buildings or machinery which will damage the landscape, and that there may be loss of local amenity in terms of noise and air pollution.

In terms of the strategic and major sites our approach will be:

• To ensure that Gloucestershire County Council have fully implemented the waste hierarchy and the proximity principle before new facilities are approved.
• To oppose all new sites until existing sites have been fully used except where the proximity principle applies and makes sustainability sense. In particular, to oppose reuse of quarries for any waste disposal purpose for which the location is environmentally unsuitable.
• When any of the licences to operate come up for renewal, to ensure that conditions of renewal include adequate screening of the site, the strictest protection from malodours/ fumes and noise, and an upgrading of the local roads to ensure they are safe for the level of HGV traffic; any upgrading does, of course, need to be implemented in a way that is sensitive to the landscape and the local character of the area.
• Where new facilities are proposed on existing sites we would expect the buildings and machinery to be acceptable in landscape terms including any views of the site from the AONB escarpment, and that any increase in traffic can be accommodated on the existing road system. We would particularly oppose use of narrow country lanes for increased HGV traffic.
• In both cases we would expect an inspection and report by the Environment Agency and an implementation plan of their recommendations. This should include hydrology and effects on watercourses and flood plains.
• To campaign for all landfill to be placed in existing voids where these are in environmentally suitable locations. Where land-raise is involved this should be done in an imaginative way to produce an interesting landscape form.
• To oppose the use of sites in the county as deposits for hazardous waste from distant out of county sources.
• To promote maximising energy generation from residual waste as renewable energy.

July 2007