Sustainabilitylive! 2012 Seminar Programme - What next after the Waste Review?

Why the Waste Review and the planning proposals are not doing the business for SMEs. Who should attend: Local Authorities, Government bodies and SMEs What will they learn: The case for tackling SME waste and a circular economy The recent Waste Review was lacking in aspiration. A recent survey found that although LATS abolition, an aspiration to move towards zero waste, more support for SMEs, and the move towards better integration of commercial and municipal waste were welcomed, the absence of targets across the board and the over-reliance on voluntary agreements and responsibility deals as an alternative to regulation were regretted. Tackling waste should not be seen as an end in itself. Government policy must be to encourage a 'circular economy' that maximises resource efficiency, minimises waste production, protects the environment, encourages cost effective businesses and ensures resource and energy security. Past Government policies have narrowly focused on household waste and solutions. Meanwhile many smaller businesses still lack infrastructure as well as knowledge of the costs and solutions available, yet businesses with less than 20 people account for almost 40% of the waste produced by the commercial sector. Planning proposals fail to address waste management, particularly where waste plans are absent or incomplete. Planning has to be capable of developing waste facilities across local authority boundaries. Strategic cross boundary partnerships are crucial particularly since the timescale for the proposed revision of PPS10 is not clear.