Planning for waste management: changing discourses and institutional relationships

Abstract

Waste planning in the UK is confronted with new policy agendas and is under pressure to develop new policy frameworks in the emerging local plans. The changes in policy agendas are pushing waste planning to shift from total reliance on disposal of waste to landfill towards a wider range of waste management techniques based on a hierarchy of options. This change is taking place simultaneously with changing institutional relationships in waste management. This paper examines the ways in which the planning system is responding to these challenging developments. Case studies of development plan-making practices in the West Midlands, Kent and Lancashire are examined in order to provide an account of the processes of change. In conclusion, the paper argues that whilst under the EU-led regulatory pressures, the intention to move away from landfill was universal in all cases, the selection of alternatives was diverse, reflecting the influences derived from locally specific factors. It also argues that although the consultation processes embedded in the British planning system has the potential to open up the debate on strategic waste management to a wider range of stakeholders, the sectoral nature of the system and the end-of-pipe approach to participation has largely undermined such achievements.