Where will your waste go when landfill sites are full?

 

 

Peterborough City Council has been working to increase domestic recycling levels, and raise public awareness about the need to recycle. It has achieved one of the highest recycling and composting rates in the country, reaching 35.65% in 2005/2006 and rising to 43% in 2006/2007 and 46% in 2007/08. The success of the waste management strategy has been achieved through the help of the people of Peterborough and significant investment by the council and its partners in today's waste management systems.

 

Everyone in Peterborough has worked very hard to achieve this, but now we need to take this to a new level.

 

The council wants to set a new aspirational target of achieving more than 65% recycling. This will ensure that we are doing all we can for the local and global environment, and will help us to live up to our title as an Environment City. We also want to do more work to educate school children, residents and local businesses alike to prevent waste arising in the first place.

Prevention, re-use and recycling / composting of waste will still be highest on the agenda for the council.  Alongside the development of a treatment facility waste management plans for the future include:

 

 

Peterborough City Council would like to develop future waste facilities to reduce our dependence on landfill as a disposal method.  The traditional waste hierarchy depends on landfill as the major disposal method for waste.

 

 

 

Peterborough however aspires to transform the traditional hierarchy and to place our dependence on landfill as a last resort, with our main focusing and efforts committed to waste prevention, re-use and recycling.

 

 

However, the European Union has created a new law which means that Peterborough City Council, like other local authorities, needs to consider additional ways to manage waste disposal. The EU Landfill Directive has set decreasing annual landfill targets for local authorities and will impose fines of £150 for each tonne of waste that is landfilled above those limits plus its share of a £500,000 daily fine imposed by the EU if the nation collectively exceeds its total target.  For more information on the landfill allowance trading scheme please visit our 'Information and reference' page.

Peterborough cannot meet its landfill targets through recycling alone. On top of this, available landfill space in Peterborough is due to run out in about four years. To avoid severe financial penalties, which could impact on council tax, as well as address environmental concerns, new ways to deal with waste are needed. Even if Peterborough achieves this aspirational recycling target as much as 75,000 tonnes a year would need to be treated, so it is vital the council investigates the options available, and makes plans to deal with the future problem.

 

In trying to find a way to treat the excess waste, the council wants to achieve:

 

The recommendations put forward by the Working Group were considered by the council's Environment Policy Overview Committee on 1 February and by the council's Cabinet on  8 February prior to consideration being given by all Members of council at the council meeting on 28 February 2007.

 

People have the opportunity to raise questions or comments via emails to  yourwasteyourview@peterborough.gov.uk  or by letters addressed to: Your waste your view, Environment and community services, Peterborough City Council, Bridge House, Town Bridge, Peterborough, PE1 1HU.

 

These will be answered by the council via the question and answer section on the website.

 

Over the next two years work will proceed on delivering the working group's strategy, as approved by full council on 28 February 2007.  This will include raising recycling levels to over 65 per cent by introducing kerbside collections of kitchen waste and glass and promoting recycling among residents and business people.