22.10.13
‘Infrastructure gap’ for business waste
There is a real risk of a “significant infrastructure gap” by 2020 for commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) has warned.
A new report sets out the challenges in forecasting and delivering the necessary waste infrastructure into the future. Data quality is one major issue that impacts on the industry’s ability to project, plan and deliver, while inadequate mechanisms to support larger than local planning must also be addressed.
CIWM is to work to ensure a more consistent approach to forecasting, the new president David Beadle told the House of Commons at his inauguration last week.
He said: “The report highlights just how inadequate the data is and throws into stark relief how poorly informed we are as a sector to make robust, strategic decisions about the future planning and delivery of waste infrastructure.
“We also need governments to set achievable but ambitious targets… and we need to know what it is we are trying to achieve on C&I waste as much as we do on municipal wastes.
“In moving towards resource efficiency, resource security and the holy grail of the circular economy, our work will probably never be completely done... As an industry we continue to mature, working together on common issues such as health and safety, skills and tackling waste crime.
“But we need to do more, especially where we can see under-performance as seems likely in the C&I waste market. There is no room for criminals, slip shod standards, adhocracy and guesswork which undermine the importance and value of what we have to achieve. We have to work together.”
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