A radical new proposal for delivering and financing waste minimisation clubs in England, due to the loss of landfill tax credit scheme funding

Abstract

Waste minimisation clubs (WMCs) have been a major focus within the UK for the importation of sustainable waste management into, mainly, industry and commerce. Waste Strategy 2000—waste strategy for England and Wales—lays out the context for club contribution to national strategy. Waste production can be seen as a result of inefficiencies in production and management processes and this happens in many companies because of a knowledge gap. The role of Envirowise—UK Best Practice programme, specialising in clean technology and waste minimisation—is highlighted as a major contributor to driving sustainable waste management in business, partly through WMCs. Early WMC development (1992 onwards) was based upon preceding developments from mainland Europe. Various models for club structure have emerged and these include; Demonstration, Facilitated Self-Help and Sectoral. Access to funding for WMCs is a key limiting factor for their formation, many recent WMCs had been funded by the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS). The Government stated, during December 2002, that the LTCS had made a number of marked contributions to sustainable practice, however, it considered there was little evidence that it had delivered a step change; so Object C/CC would no longer be funded under the LTCS. From 2003 onwards, the UK lost the major funding source for sustainable waste management research and development, including new and novel approaches to industrial/commercial WMC development. A model is proposed to reverse the decline in WMC development; a key step forward would be the formation of an Envirowise led forum along with industry, service providers, higher education and waste minimisation champions of proven worth. The forum would produce an Action Plan based upon the English regions; a similar approach could also be used with the Devolved Assemblies of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each Region would be allocated a provisional fund, by Central Government, to sponsor Envirowise appointed waste minimisation champions, who would liase with the Regional Development Agency and other Regional bodies to produce an Action Plan for WMC development, based on a Facilitated Self-Help model. This way, a wide range of local expertise and support will be recruited to the formation and management of WMCs, decreasing costs and increasing income leverage.