Liverpool City Council have announced a new blueprint, with the aim of dramatically reducing the amount of carbon emissions produced from waste.
Led by Mayor Joanne Anderson, who has championed plans to change the way that the city manages recycling and waste, the project is setting four main priorities to empower communities, deliver social value and respond to the climate emergency.
The four priorities set out in the document are:
- Accelerating actions to reduce carbon emissions
- Improving community-based networks to reuse items
- Introduce community composting
- Using waste as a resource to deliver social value
Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said:
“Since becoming Mayor, I’ve been on a mission to transform how we reduce waste and improve recycling across Liverpool City Region.
“I have always been passionate about waste but after a trip Copenhagen, I was struck by the art of the possible. As one of the must sustainable and energy efficient cities in the world, their waste plant turns rubbish into heat and power, and even has a dry ski slope on its roof.
“I am proud to have produced this blueprint and secured the support of the City Region’s leaders which sees us boldly responding to the climate emergency while improving the lives of our residents.
“I’d like to thanks Carl Beer, former Chief Executive of Mersey Recycling and Waste Authority who was instrumental in making this happen. His support and expertise were invaluable throughout this process.
“The Zero Waste Framework is a roadmap to making Liverpool and the wider City Region a more sustainable place to live. As leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure we take tangible action – but it’s up to each and every one of us to play our part to ensure the future of our planet.”
Residents of Liverpool are spending over £36 million a year on the costs for collecting, transporting and disposing of waste, with it also contributing to 7% of the city’s carbon emissions. Tackling food waste is the immediate focus, with this accounting for 40% of the material in bins around the city. The council has established a group, with the aim of achieving the following proposals:
- Starting food waste collections as soon as possible
- Educating households on how they can reduce the amount of food they throw out
- Preventing waste collection to reduce food poverty
- Making sure that residents have access to home or community composting
- Keeping products in use, to eliminate unnecessary waste and develop a circular economy
- Promoting reuse and repair activities through a reuse hub
- Ensuring that more materials are collected in recycling bins
- Bringing about the introduction of mobile and localised Household Waste Recycling Centres
- Optimising waste collection rounds across council boundaries
- Ensuring the purchase of zero-emission waste vehicles
- Reducing fly tipping and other waste crime
Lesly Worswick, Chief Executive of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, said:
“The LCR Zero Waste Strategic Framework outlines our commitment to changing how we view ad manage waste and resources across the City Region.
“It’s clear that achieving our targets of zero waste and net zero carbon by 2040 will have significant benefits for our people, our planet and the city region economy and this is a great starting point for action.”
