Waste sector speaks out about Copenhagen

[Richard Anthony]

Waste sector speaks out about Copenhagen 
http://www.mrw.co.uk/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=10/EntryID=6120 
* 
*Liz Gyekye* 
/08 Dec 2009/ 
 
*The waste industry has expressed mixed views on the implications of Copenhagen for the waste sector.* 
 
The UN climate summit in Copenhagen aims to strike a deal on major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (7-13 December <http://www.mrw.co.uk/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=10/en.cop15.dk/>). 
 
Recycling technology provider TiTech managing director Jonathan Clarke said that any potential carbon emissions target reached at Copenhagen would trickle down to the recycling industry and may result in stricter targets for the recovery of recyclates to reduce GHG emissions. 
 
Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the /Guardian/ that he hoped the European Union would agree to a cut in emissions by 30 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020. 
 
Expressing his personal view and not that of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, principal policy officer Andrew Craig said: “Waste has been sidelined a bit in the main debate about carbon. Waste is one element of the whole lifecycle of products that is related to what we consume and not what we produce. 
 
“There needs to be more of a focus on carbon emissions on consumption as well as production. There seems to be more of a focus on energy efficiency of buildings, transport emissions and carbon emissions from heavy industry. 
 
“Waste has its own set of targets and metrics and most local authorities are caught up in the Carbon Reduction Commitment [climate change scheme] which does not include waste management.” 
 
He with the CRC local authorities did not get credit for focusing on waste but would get credit for increasing carbon efficiency in buildings or local authority operations. 
 
An increase in the European pledge would mean the UK would have to achieve a cut of 42 per cent by 2020, compared with the current British target of 34 per cent. 
 
International Solid Waste Association vice president Jeff Copper attended a waste and climate conference in Copenhagen last week. He said that he was conscious that the waste sector was in a difficult position regarding future policies mitigating GHG emissions. 
 
Cooper explained: “At present it is included as a minor player in the GHG emission debate but thanks to its success and in future even greater potential to reduce its environmental impacts it might even not be regarded as a separate sector in the future Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports.” 
 
He added that waste sector activities represent an opportunity for carbon reduction “yet to be fully exploited”. He said that the European municipal waste system is on the way to becoming a net reducer of GHG emissions as countries increase their recycling and energy recovery. 
 
Veolia Environmental Services deputy chief executive Paul Levett said Copenhagen would be a “catalyst for targets for the sector to be directly or indirectly carbon based rather than simply weight-based." He also said that all industries must play their part in tackling carbon emissions. 
 
A WRAP spokeswoman said that its research on resource efficiency that it published last month had an important message in the week of Copenhagen. She said: “It shows that resource efficiency could prove a secret weapon as it allows immediate action to meet pressing and challenging targets." 
 
 
 
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