Our Vision, Principles and Objectives

Introduction

The Material Resources Strategy (MRS) is a partnership between Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council, Project Integra (which manages Hampshire’s household waste), and the wider community – including commerce and industry, community groups, Central Government and other public sector organisations.

The historic approach to waste in our society has been about managing the consequences of our ‘throw-away’ culture. MRS is based on the principle that we need to use materials more efficiently over their lifecycle. In order to achieve this, we all need to change our view of ‘waste’, so that it is considered as a resource and re-used – either as a material or source of energy.

Here we set out some proposals for:

A vision and aims for the MRS
A set of common MRS principles, and
A set of strategic objectives for the three elements of the MRS.

MRS Vision, Principles and Strategic objectives

MRS vision

v

MRS aims

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MRS principles

We want to identify the most appropriate methods of processing, treatment or disposal for any given material or waste type, including:

Household
Commercial
Industrial
Construction
Demolition
Agricultural

And, if we are to be successful in moving from waste to resource management, we will have to stop looking at household and commercial waste separately. This is why MRS takes an integrated approach to waste collection, processing, and the marketing of recycled materials.

There are three key elements to the strategy:

Engaging the process chain
Establishing material recovery systems
Facilitating delivery on the ground

The waste management problem – a reminder

Waste materials arise from a variety of sources. In 2000/01, about 3.5 million tonnes of waste was deposited at authorised waste management facilities in Hampshire, of which 2.7 million tonnes (77%) was deposited at landfill sites and 0.8 million tonnes (23%) at licensed waste treatment processes. Some 1.0 million tonnes of waste were handled at transfer stations, including civic amenity sites. About 55% of the waste landfilled in Hampshire (1.47 million tonnes) were inert/construction demolition wastes. In this context ‘inert’ refers to non-biodegradable and non-toxic material. Once this material is placed in landfill it does not result in further environmental degradation through leaching or emissions to air.

In addition to the waste sent for treatment and disposal, some waste is reused and recycled. In the case of household waste, the amount recycled is included in the above total and amounts to nearly 25%. This is over twice the national average.

It is estimated that around 24% of industrial and commercial, and 33% of construction and demolition waste is currently recycled.

More waste – less space

In the 1990s Hampshire faced a major household waste management crisis, with old incinerators that had to close and landfill sites running out. This led to the development of a new integrated waste strategy known as Project Integra that involved action on waste minimisation, recycling, composting and treatment of residual waste through energy recovery incinerators. Whilst this first phase of Project Integra has been largely successfully implemented, we have been unable to stop the growth in waste.

Nationally, the quantity of household waste has been increasing at about 3% a year. If this rate of increase continues, household waste volumes will double over the next 25 years. It is believed that production of commercial, industrial, construction and demolition wastes has also been increasing in line with growth in economic activity.

The implication of these trends is that a substantial increase in waste processing, treatment and disposal capacity will soon be urgently needed. Importantly, given the current high reliance on landfill, Hampshire’s landfills will be full in a short period of time.

Even if landfill were not in short supply, it represents a waste of valuable resources and the storing up of environmental problems for the future. This is clearly not sustainable and we must change.

The need for change

The change agenda is being driven by European and national policies that demand that we increase the proportion of waste from which we recover value, for example through recycling, composting and energy.

From the other end of the spectrum, new restrictions on the types of waste that can be accepted at landfill sites will mean that other options will have to be employed. This will require rapid development of a significant amount of new infrastructure, the delivery of which presents a major challenge and is a key role of the MRS.

Meanwhile, demand for primary materials continues. The overall land bank of permitted reserves of sand and gravel is below Government guidelines and the Regional Assembly has consulted recently on requirements that Hampshire should meet up to 2016. Identifying suitable sites to meet this shortfall will be a significant task.

Our minerals planning activity encourages a sustainable approach to construction, and emphasis has been placed on optimising the use of recycled and secondary aggregate materials. A major issue is how to achieve higher targets for the use of using alternative material supplies to primary aggregates.

We are currently working on developing a sustainable construction framework for the County Council, and further material on this will be made available early in 2004.

The way forward

Hundreds of organisations in Hampshire wish to change the way in which resources are extracted, used, re-processed, and re-used or disposed of, by those who live and work in the county.

By "resources" we mean everything from:

Water, soil, wood, minerals including (sand, gravel, chalk and oil),
Manufactured materials such as paper, plastics and food, and
All the waste created by our use of natural and manufactured material resources.

These resources are of value to society at every stage in their lifecycle.

Under the above definition, ‘resources’ covers a very broad spectrum. Therefore, In order to remain focused and achieve our key objectives, we have adopted the term ‘material resources’ in this context. This means that our work will be focused on minerals, manufactured materials and the consequent waste. However, linkages with water (e.g. in terms of pollution from waste), soil (e.g. the use of compost as a soil enhancer) and energy (e.g. utilising waste as an energy source) must be fully explored. Separate initiatives are dealing with these resources and more information on these can be made available through briefing papers as stakeholder discussion develops.

Driving change

A fundamental change in attitudes and behaviour is needed if we are to reduce our consumption of material resources and the waste we create from their use. This is important even where their supply is not threatened by the amounts we are consuming, since the environmental impact, especially in terms of energy use, of winning and processing those resources, is also a problem. There are also the impacts on the quality of life of local communities who are affected by mineral extraction and waste disposal operations.

An integrated approach – the key to success

Over the last 10 years Hampshire has made significant progress in managing household waste by recycling more and disposing less to landfill, and further efficiencies can still be achieved in this area, possibly by improving efficiency in product design and finding new ways of providing products and services

However, now is the time to work with commerce and industry and the waste they produce (which comprises two thirds of the total amount of waste), to achieve similar levels of success.

Vision and Aims of the MRS

A common vision for the future management of material resources might be:

‘The Hampshire community wishes to use its material resources with maximum efficiency and minimum wastage.’

The aims of this vision will be:

To treat all waste as a resource.
To minimise the production of waste.
To maximise opportunities for the community to recover value from all materials.
To promote the re-use and recovery of current waste arisings by commercial and industrial practices.
To only extract primary materials where it can be shown that the need cannot be met in a more acceptable alternative way.
To transport material in the most sustainable way.
To better protect the environment for future generations.

But we cannot achieve this vision solely by using traditional minerals and waste planning approaches. In addition we need to get people to behave differently, and find ‘smarter’ ways to make more sustainable solutions affordable. This means addressing all of the following principles:

MRS Principles

The MRS will set out a series of strategic objectives, policies and actions to achieve its aims, and these will be designed with the following guiding principles in mind, to:

Recognise that changing people’s attitudes and behaviour is fundamental towards achieving material resources management.

Adopt principles of sustainable development to manage material resources efficiently and effectively (prudent use of natural resources, protecting the environment, ensuring social progress for all, maintaining appropriate and stable levels of economic growth and employment – and so improve quality of life).

Seek to supply materials of sufficient quantity and quality so as to be able to secure sustainable end uses and markets.
Move towards sustainable production and consumption where, as far as practicable, the use of raw/primary/natural resources is reduced and the use of recycled/secondary materials maximised.

Use the best information available and have regard to the ‘precautionary principle’ in all areas of decision making. This means taking decisions having regard to the best available scientific research and data, adopting a precautionary approach in the assessment, management and communication of risks. This applies to all options and technologies.
Apply the ‘proximity principle’ – to deal with materials close to their extraction or point of use, and so reduce the need to transport them, whilst recognising the need for sustainable markets in what is, for some materials, a global marketplace.
Minimise the environmental impact of material resources transportation, through the use of water, rail, pipeline and conveyor in preference to road wherever practicable.
Involve all those likely to be affected, and create transparency, in the decision-making process through honest and inclusive consultation.
Monitor and review implementation and achievements under the MRS regularly, and amend policies and practices accordingly.

Strategic Objectives

While the action plans and policies of the MRS will conform to the common principles, each of the three elements of the MRS is sufficiently different to require its own set of objectives to work towards.

Trying to ensure that material resource management concepts are adopted at all stages in the life-cycle of goods and products. This is largely about people – culture, lifestyles and awareness – and it applies to organisations (public and private) as well as individuals. We call this ‘Engaging the Process Chain’

Establishing the materials recovery systems that are needed to capture mature resources and feed them back into the production chain in an efficient and affordable way, as well as catering for unavoidable minerals and waste disposal needs. As noted previously, new legislation means that the need for new facilities and infrastructure is unavoidable.

In order to minimise the need for new mineral workings and waste disposal sites, we have to make it easier to implement alternatives in practice. This means looking closely at what facilities are needed and where they can be best sited. In addition, we must cater for essential traditional mineral and waste disposal needs. It is important to recognise that we are embarking on a project that will take many years to bring about and in the meantime both new and conventional solutions will need to co-exist.

Engaging the Process Chain

The key to this is ensuring the effective operation of the process chain over the lifecycle of goods and services – sourcing of raw material, design, manufacture and consumption. This requires the avoidance of unnecessary waste at all stages and the return of raw material back into the system.

The challenge is to ensure that the process chain is engaged and operating to maximum efficiency by identifying and addressing the issues related to each sector

Proposed Strategic Objectives

To take local action within available powers and resources, and work in partnership with national and regional organisations to:

Develop a co-ordinated approach to preventing waste at all stages in the manufacture, retailing and consumption of goods and products through sustainable product design, green purchasing, etc.
Raise awareness of the importance of waste segregation in society (all sectors – both public and private) and maximise participation and achievement in reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery, and segregation of key resource streams.
Support innovation and demonstration projects.
Publicise best practice.
Support Hampshire businesses to take advantage of business opportunities to advance material resources management.
Create an agenda to influence the EC/Government over changes to legislation, regulations, fiscal measures to achieve material resources management objectives.
Increase understanding and change community attitudes to waste, the available solutions and the need for change.

Establishing Materials Recovery Systems

Moving away from landfill towards recycling and recovery for residual waste requires a new infrastructure to recover, reprocess and thereby transform waste materials into useful materials and products. This is the direct interface between waste management and material resources management.

If this is to be done in an efficient and cost-effective way, we need to focus on key resource streams (e.g. food waste, paper, plastics, metals, chemicals, aggregates) rather than waste origins (e.g. household, commercial) as has hitherto been the case. This approach helps determine the maximum value that can be extracted from waste and evaluate the most practicable option in environmental, technical and economic terms for dealing with each waste stream.

Proposed Strategic Objectives

To move from the concept of ‘waste origins’ to that of ‘resource streams’.

To predict and quantify future material resource streams requiring management in Hampshire.
To identify the requirements for the primary extraction of materials in Hampshire.

To identify the realistic potential for segregating key resource streams (see below) for reuse, recycling and/or recovery.
To identify the preferred options for management of the segregated resource streams, mixed materials and residual waste.
To identify infrastructure required to achieve the above needs.
To identify opportunities/synergies between the household, commerce and industry resource streams to maximise reuse, recycling and recovery.
To establish a long-term plan for landfill.

So a resource management approach would not seek to recommend or exclude any particular technology or process, but instead establishes a framework within which the use of waste as a resource can be maximised. Any new technologies or processes required will be managed proactively rather than reactively. We need to:

Determine the feasibility in technical, economic and social terms of segregating waste materials either at source or later, into streams at a quality required for feeding back into particular resource recovery chains.
Where resource stream segregation is feasible, determine the most appropriate processing option for each stream. This could be materials recycling (to supply materials), bio-processing (to produce a soil conditioner), or thermal treatment (to supply heat and/or electricity). For some materials the choice of option is clear-cut (e.g. materials recycling for metals, bio-processing for food waste) whilst for other materials (e.g. wood, plastics) there is more than one recovery option and a more detailed analysis is needed.
Identify waste that cannot practicably be segregated into material streams as illustrated above and determine the appropriate processing options. This could be an inactive product for land reclamation/landfill or a feedstock for thermal processing and energy recovery. The most practicable option is likely to vary from area to area according to a range of factors, including the scale and distribution of waste arisings and environmental considerations, e.g. the availability of landfill for inactive waste.
Establish the long-term role of landfill as the means of dealing with process residues and wastes that cannot be practicably dealt with by the resource recovery approach.

While the proximity principle implies that waste should generally be managed as near as possible to its origin in order to reduce the transport of waste and its consequent environmental impact, we must accept that feeding resources back into the production cycle can involve a global market place, similar to that for manufactured goods. It is therefore important to recognise that a range of factors can influence proximity, including the nature of the material under consideration, economies of scale in the management operation, and the degree of specialisation required.

Facilitating Delivery on the Ground

Achieving the Vision will require a major switch to ‘industrialised’ waste handling and processing facilities. These facilities will include reception and storage sites, disassembly plants, materials recovery facilities, processing sites, composting sites, anaerobic digestion and other energy recovery plants, distribution facilities and sales points (i.e. market development industries). This adds up to the need for many more facilities and land which existing planning policy will not provide.

Proposed Strategic Objectives

To identify the sites required for primary materials extractions.
To identify scale of infrastructure to enable material resources management and reduce the need for traditional waste disposal.
To identify where to locate the infrastructure needed for resource management and residual waste management.
To identify detailed proposals for key facilities.
To appraise the most appropriate sites for facilities, be it urban or rural, brownfield or greenfield, etc., with regard to environmental, social and economic objectives.
To provide flexibility in transportation, particularly in securing distant markets and outlets for recycled/recovered products, by identifying sites with opportunities for movement by water and rail.

The facility requirements can be broadly categorised as follows:

Those involving largely open storage, such as aggregate recycling and open windrow composting.
Those of an industrial nature dealing with largely segregated wastes and requiring enclosed premises, such as materials recovery facilities, disassembly plants and market development industries.
Those that deal with mixed wastes, more closely related to traditional waste treatments like anaerobic digestion plants and energy from waste facilities.
Hybrid facilities that utilise sites with buildings and open areas like enclosed composting systems.

The scale of new facilities required will be dependent to some extent on the acceptance of a material resources management approach, the effects of economic growth, the practicalities of achieving different recovery systems, the environmental implications of the approach and the speed of implementation. There also may be advantages in co-location. The various options for waste management will be considered as the minerals and waste development framework is prepared.

The possible location of proposed new infrastructure and facilities will also have to be examined. The facility requirements will be more acceptable in some areas than others. We will need to consider the suitability of some of the activities to urban or rural locations.

Transport implications in land use planning terms will have to be appraised. This includes the distances that materials are transported, linked to an examination of alternative modes of transport and especially movement by rail and water as an alternative to road traffic.

Sustainable development will shape the approach adopted, and detailed consideration will have to be given to environmental impact. The maintenance of Hampshire’s natural and built environment, and residents’ quality of life will be an important influence on decisions.

Delivery on the ground also has to take into account the cost of proposed facilities. The more innovative material resource management activities, certainly in the early stages, may not be cost effective and – given the pressure on land and its high value in the South East – securing appropriate land will be a challenge.

Developing this strategy

At the MRS workshop on the 2^nd December at Portsmouth Pyramids, stakeholders will be asked to discuss the vision, principles and objectives set out in this philosophy document.

If these can be agreed through this stakeholder discussion process, the next stage will be to develop a draft of preferred strategy options for the next workshop in March 2004.

If you require any further information on this philosophy document please contact

Emily Trevorrow at Entec on 020 7843 1412 or e-mail her at treve@entecuk.co.uk

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