Sustainable Waste Management, Strategy and Implementation

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The amount of waste material we produce, and the way in which we manage it, has profound implications for the quality of the environment and for the prospects of future generations. There is a need to become more efficient in the way we use, recycle and dispose of materials, in order to minimise impacts on the environment, and reduce the rate at which resources are depleted.

The proportion of household waste recycled in County Durham is currently 25% -above the national average. The other 75% is buried in landfill - a process which devalues the waste material and which can potentially contaminate soils and water. An improvement in waste management is required to extract more value from waste materials by recycling, composting and recovering energy.

The Government published a national waste management strategy in 2000 ('Waste Strategy 2000') which introduced statutory recycling and recovery targets from Municipal Solid Waste. This is to move away from landfill to more sustainable waste management practices. Recent European legislation means that the UK will also have to set specific targets for reducing landfilling of the biodegradable fraction of municipal waste.

District councils are responsible for the collection of household waste and the county council for its disposal. To achieve the targets set by Government it is imperative that the District / Borough Councils work together with the County Council in the development of recycling and recovery initiatives.

A Municipal Waste Management Strategy for County Durham

The Strategy was published in February 2001 and was developed by a partnership comprising Durham County Council and the District / Borough councils in the county in association with Darlington Borough Council and Durham County Waste Management Company and the Environment Agency. It deals specifically with municipal solid waste, and will be key to the development and implementation of a more sustainable waste management system in the county over the next 20 years. Meeting the Government's targets for the recovery, recycling and composting of waste is one of the main drivers for the production of the Strategy. The strategy is currently being reviewed and updated for publication in 2008.

You can view the sustainable waste management strategy for 2001in Acrobat format below:

Waste Strategy Jan 2001.pdf (12 pages, 39kb)

You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe web site. Please note that the Adobe Access Plug-in enables vision impaired users to read Adobe PDF documents.

A consultation leaflet was distributed to the majority of households in the County asking for views on waste issues and current waste management services. Responses have also been received from a number of other interested parties and pressure groups on the content of the draft strategy document and all of these views have been taken into consideration in the production of the final strategy.

County Durham Waste Local Plan

The Plan provides the land-use planning framework for the development of adequate waste management facilities to meet the county’s needs for the re-use, recovery and disposal of waste. It will guide the location of waste management facilities to meet the objectives of sustainable development, and the principles set out in the national Waste Strategy 2000.

Read the Waste Local Plan online.

Recycling

Household Waste Recycling Centres

The county council provides household waste recycling centres at various locations across the county where the public can deposit any items of household waste .

Major improvements works have now been carried out on the majority of sites to make them more user friendly and develop the recycling activities. The county council along with its contractor Premier Waste Management Ltd. are committed to continuous improvement and would welcome any customer feedback.

Construction Waste

The county council’s Civil and Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory is working with Premier Waste Management Ltd. to produce road aggregate from construction wastes such as concrete, brick and asphalt.

The county council’s highway specification has been amended to permit the use of this material.

All new highway and road maintenance schemes are assessed for the potential to recycle materials already on site, or to use recycled materials imported from elsewhere in the county. The feasibility of using recycled glass for highway schemes is being investigated.

Asphalt planings from old road surfaces have been used by the county council for many years to surface cycleways and farm roads.

Energy Recovery

Landfill Gas

Premier Waste Management Ltd. are generating 4MW of electricity per year (enough to power 2500 homes) by recovering and burning landfill gas (methane) at the County Council’s landfill sites at Coxhoe, St.Bede’s and Bolam.

Energy from Waste

In order to meet national and European waste recovery targets, capacity for recovering energy from solid waste in the county will need to be developed. The Strategy proposes that this should be by gasification and pyrolisis rather than mass-burn incineration. This will also contribute towards meeting targets for renewable energy generation.

Landfill

Landfill in County Durham

The county council currently owns two landfill sites which are leased by Premier Waste Management Ltd. Historically, most of the household waste in County Durham has been landfilled because this has been by far the cheapest disposal option. The imposition of the landfill tax means that more sustainable waste management techniques are now becoming economically more competitive.

The county’s Municipal Waste Management Strategy provided the framework for reducing reliance on landfill as a disposal method. However, some high quality landfill facilities will be required in the future for a proportion of household waste produced, and for the residues of other disposal methods.

Landfill Tax

Since April 2001 landfill tax has been going up at a rate of £3 a year. It curently stands at £24 per tonne and this is to increase £8 a year. This equates to a bill of nearly 4 million pounds for County Durham. This cost ultimately rests with the council tax payers of the county.

A percentage of the Landfill Tax revenue can be 'recycled' back into projects which improve the local environment or contribute to the development of more sustainable waste management.

Waste Awareness

Waste Hierarchy

Waste management options can be ranked in a hierarchy reflecting sustainability:

• Reduction
• Re-use
• Recovery
• Recycling
• Composting
• Energy
• Disposal

Raising awareness about the waste hierarchy, and how to achieve a shift in performance towards the top of the hierarchy, is key to bringing about a more sustainable approach to resource use and waste management.

Schools Wastewise Project

Durham County Council is a partner in the School WasteWise project. which is working with schools across County Durham, Darlington, and Sunderland to develop waste reduction and recycling schemes, and raise the awareness of staff, governors, pupils and parents about sustainable waste management. The project is supported by the County Durham Environmental Trust using funds from the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. For more details contact the School WasteWise office tel: 01388 721735

Waste Awareness Campaign

A broader education and awareness-raising campaign to encourage householders to reduce, re-use and recycle waste is integral to the County Durham Sustainable Waste Management Strategy. Promoting the wider use of recycled products and materials is an important part of the campaign, as successful recycling is dependent upon creating a strong demand for recycled materials.

For more information on waste awareness issues contact the Waste Minimisation Officer on 0191 3833186.