Purpose
This Policy Position Statement (PPS) considers the impact of
waste management in the UK on climate change (and vice-versa) and
sets out the position of the Chartered Institution of Water and
Environmental Management (CIWEM) on the management of waste and
resources in this context.
CIWEM's Position:
1. Professionals working in waste management and associated
areas need to ensure that they are aware of current thinking on
climate change and the impact of their area of work on greenhouse
gas emissions.
2. The focus for the UK should be on resource efficiency and
waste prevention following the amended hierarchy in the revised
Waste Framework Directive. Recycling is too far through the life
cycle of a product to deliver the kind of carbon savings that will
be required to meet ambitious emissions reduction targets.
3. Whenever a strategic or long-term waste management decision
is made, it should be done in pursuance of sustainable development
and in particular considering the possible impact on the
environment and on climate change.
4. When climate change is being considered in waste management
decisions, care must be taken to ensure that decisions do
not:
- consider climate change as a factor when it may be
insignificant;
- fail to consider non-climate factors that have a greater
influence than climate change;
- fail to consider climate change when it may be central to making
the most appropriate decisions.
5. There is a need for further research into an environmental
accounting system for comparing the climate change impacts of waste
management options.
6. CIWEM considers that managing waste in the UK makes a
relatively modest contribution to carbon emissions at roughly 3.5%
of the UK total emissions. Given the scale of greenhouse gas
emissions reductions that are likely to be required to avoid
dangerous levels of climate change, it is essential that the
additional benefits from resource efficiency provided by
sustainable production and consumption measures are pursued.
7. There is a need to ensure that the regulatory landscape is
appropriate to optimise the use of waste as a resource with the
reclassification of waste as non-waste so as to facilitate material
re-use.
8. Expenditure should be proportionate to the emissions savings
which can be achieved and investment in the waste industry is
arguably higher than in other sectors which have greater potential
for emissions reduction (for example energy and transport) and
where some of this investment may be better placed.
9. There is significant potential for use of alternative vehicle
fuels within the waste industry, given the close proximity of waste
companies to waste products which can be used to produce fuel. A
number of major waste operators are currently leading the way on
development of alternative fuels.
The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
(CIWEM) is the leading professional body for the people who plan,
protect and care for the environment and its resources, providing
educational opportunities, independent information to the public
and advice to government. Members in 97 countries include
scientists, engineers, ecologists and students.
Context
There can be little doubt that our climate is changing as a
result of man's influence (see CIWEM's over-arching PPS on the
subject, 'Global Climate Change'). The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)i tells us that world wide, long-term
changes will be significant and affect many different aspects of
life and its projections are increasingly understood to be
conservative. There is increasing evidence that the UK climate is
already starting to change.
The Impact of Climate Change on
Waste Management
The impact of climate change on waste management infrastructure
is not considered to be particularly noteworthyii,
although there are some threats which should not be ignored.
Landfills have a significantly long-lived pollution potential due
to methane production and potential leachate escape. With increased
temperatures there could also be more problems with pests at
landfills.
Adaptation strategies may need to account for both flooding and
sea-level rise when considering the position and construction of
future landfills. The current infrastructure may however, be
vulnerable to flooding, with the incidence of more extreme weather
events. The impacts need to be understood and measures put in place
to ensure that resilience to such events is adequate. The
Environment Agency has established a sub-group to consider the
implications of climate change (in particular extreme events of
rain, wind and temperature) upon compliance management and how this
might be reflected in the Agency's operations.
The Impact of Waste Management on
Climate Change
Waste management as a whole is responsible for only a small
proportion of total greenhouse gas emissions in the UK (just over
3.6% in 2008iii, and of which about 3% is in the form of
landfill gas i.e. methane). Emissions have reduced from 52.9MtCO2e
in 1990 to 22.7 in 2008. Nevertheless, this still equates to a
large amount of carbon emissions and to a greater or lesser extent,
all sectors of the economy and society must contribute to their
reduction. The employment of different waste management options
will affect the contribution that waste management as a whole makes
to climate change - thus sensible use of appropriate waste
management methods can help to deliver carbon emissions reductions.
This principle has become central to waste management policy at
both the European and UK levels, with significant expenditure on
diversion of biodegradable municipal waste in particular from
landfill, with greater levels of recycling and the development of
new waste management technologies.
The EU recognises the importance of methane as a powerful
greenhouse gas that needs to reduced in order to meet our climate
change targets. This is set out in the European Commission's
Strategy Paper for Reducing Methane Emissionsiv which
states:
"…action on methane looks particularly promising given first,
that it would take only a 10% reduction in methane emissions to
stabilise methane concentrations in the atmosphere, compared to a
60% reduction of CO2 emissions to achieve the same result and
secondly due to the short time methane resides in the atmosphere
(12 - 17 years) compared to CO2 ( 50 - 200 years) a strategy to
reduce methane emissions would have a more immediate impact on the
global greenhouse effect compared to CO2".
It also goes on to say that within Europe the main focus is on
those sectors that make the largest contributions to methane
emissions, notably agriculture, waste and energy which in 1990
accounted for 45%, 32% and 23% of EU methane emissions
respectively.
Evidence on Climate Change projections such as those from the
IPCC indicate that the speed at which emissions reductions are
delivered is crucial, as well as the scale of such cuts. Whilst the
recognition of the contribution waste management makes to
greenhouse gas emissions and therefore climate change is welcome,
it is important that a holistic and proportionate approach to
reducing emissions across the economy is employed, reflecting the
contribution that those sectors make to total UK emissions and the
savings that could be most readily achieved.
In this context, there is a need to be sensible about the
resources that are committed to reducing the greenhouse gases from
waste management facilities. Significant reductions in methane
emissions from landfills have already been delivered and whilst
this is a tightly controlled area, it may be a wiser use of
resources to expend efforts on the reduction of the emissions from
energy consumption and transport use (considered to be about 57% of
our 2007 greenhouse gas emissionsv) where we may be able
to make greater and quicker environmental savings more
economically.
There is significant potential for waste companies to fuel their
collection fleets using alternative fuels such as waste derived
biofuels. Whilst this would not make a large impact on the carbon
intensity of the industry, it would represent a step towards
sustainability given the close proximity of waste companies to
waste products which can be used to produce fuel. A number of major
waste operators are currently leading the way on development of
alternative fuels.
CIWEM welcomes the strategic direction of the 2007 Waste
Strategy for Englandvi which places emphasis on much
greater consideration of waste as a resource, both in terms of
energy and materials. In this context, CIWEM believes there should
be urgent work on delivery of biogas (methane) injection into
either the national grid or more local networks, together with the
maximisation of energy generation from waste via anaerobic
digestion, in addition to optimising landfill gas capture and
utilising the potential for alternative fuelling of waste industry
vehicles. CIWEM believes that more should be achieved in terms of
reclassifying wastes as non-waste so as to facilitate their
material re-use. We also suggest that consideration should be given
to a new target for local authorities, which prevents them from
contracting waste management facilities that are net users of
energy.
Waste Management
Options
Waste and resource management is a key component of sustainable
consumption and production. The main municipal solid waste (MSW)
options are rather simple. Very simply, waste can either be:
- landfilled;
- incinerated (with reuse or landfill of bottom ash and air
pollution control);
- sorted and treated and then recycled, landfilled or used as a
soil conditioner; or
treated and then sorted and then recycled, landfilled or used as a
soil conditioner.
It is acknowledged that there is a genuine need for an
environmental accounting system for comparing one system for waste
management against another. However, it may be unfortunate that
carbon accounting has become that system, because it may place
unwarranted weight on the carbon emissions from waste management. A
more realistic and possibly more sustainable method may be a
conventional cost-benefit assessment, because this method also
reflects the need to ensure a strong, healthy and just society.
There are a number of ecological accounting systems available, for
example the Environment Agency has a Life Cycle Assessment tool
(WRATE), which is specifically designed to provide a
multi-parameter assessment of waste options from collection to
treatment/disposal. In any event, there is a need for greater work
in this area.
There is presently a strong focus on recycling in the UK and
other EU countries. High levels of recycling of both municipal and
construction waste coupled with a ban on landfilling biodegradable
waste could deliver significant carbon savings across the EU,
estimated at around 50%. However, from a sustainability point of
view, concentration of efforts on recycling may be misplaced as it
occurs too late in the life-cycle of a product to be of maximum
benefit to the environment. Recycling saves on the use of raw
materials, however much recycling uses energy and produces products
of quality inferior to the primary product. There has been a drive
to meet weight-based targets at the expense of quality. Therefore,
it is important to recognise where recycling delivers a net
environmental benefit and where it does not.
Waste prevention is at the top of the revised waste
hierarchyvii and represents the most effective way to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions because this reduces the
consumption of raw materials and the need to expend further energy
in managing the waste further down the line. This is the focus of a
limited amount of policy and legislation but at present greater
focus is applied to recycling. CIWEM's 2009 Manifestoviii
emphasises that the UK continues to produce too much waste in the
first place and a clear focus on tackling waste at source would in
CIWEM's view be the most effective way of significantly reducing
waste-associated carbon emissions further.
Another element of the waste hierarchy is "recovery" where waste
serves a useful purpose by replacing other materials that would
otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function. The
current regulatory regime often penalises the beneficial use of
waste. Regulation of waste recovery activities such as energy from
waste should foster good environmental behaviours and practice.
This will enable more resource and carbon efficiency.
Sustainable development consists of several elements which can
include the followingix:
1. living within environmental limits;
2. ensuring a strong, healthy and just society;
3. achieving a sustainable economy;
4. promoting good governance;
5. using sound science responsibly.
The first of the elements of sustainable development listed
above emphasises that there is a need to use resources wisely. This
means regarding waste as the endpoint of resource flow through the
economy. As set out in the waste hierarchy, the main strand of this
should be waste prevention, as, once produced, waste will
inevitably be a drain on the economy and detrimental to the
environment.
Both of the last two sustainable development elements relate to
the responsible use of sound science. The promotion of good
governance depends on the provision of accurate information to the
public before asking them to participate in decision-making. Unless
sound science is used responsibly, the general public will not take
our work seriously. There is a need to be responsible about
communicating both the science of climate change and the science of
the significance of the reasons for choosing one waste management
option over another.
June 2010
Note: CIWEM Policy Position Statements (PPS) represent the
Institution's views on issues at a particular point in time. It is
accepted that situations change as research provides new evidence.
It should be understood, therefore, that CIWEM PPS's are under
constant review, and that previously-held views may alter and lead
to revised PPSs.
i. Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis. IPCC Fourth
Assessment Report, editors S Soloman et al, Cambridge University
Press, 2007
ii. Personal Communication: Prof. Harmut Grassl, former director of
Physics of the Atmosphere Division, Max-Planck-Institute for
Meteorology, Hamburg, opening lecture at the 2007 Sardinia
Symposium.
iii. Department of Energy and Climate Change: 2008 Greenhouse Gas
Emissions, Provisional Figures (Digest of Environmental
Statistics), March 2009
iv. EC: Strategy Paper for educing Methane Emissions, COM (96) 557,
1996
v. Department of Energy and Climate Change: 2008 Greenhouse Gas
Emissions, Final Figures(Digest of Environmental Statistics),
February 2010
vi. Defra: Waste strategy for England 2007, May 2007
vii. EC. 2008. Revised Waste Framework Directive
viii. CIWEM: Fitting the Bill - A Manifesto for environmental
Action, November 2009
ix. Defra. 2005. UK Sustainable Development Strategy
