Waste Strategy
TOWARDS ZERO WASTE 2020
A Waste Strategy for Bath & North East Somerset 2005 – 2010
(2006/07 update)
On the 14th July 2005, the Council considered and agreed our
Waste Strategy, Towards Zero Waste 2020, including a 5 year Action
Plan 2005-2010.
These papers are now available
online here, and the
minutes here.
In August of 2005 the Planning Transportation & Economy
Overview & Scrutiny panel reviewed waste & recycling
services and made recommendations to the Executive Member.
View this report here.
We are one of the top recycling authorities within the country,
recycling almost 40% of our household waste in 2006/07 – but we
landfill all of our waste that is not recycled – 59,500 tonnes per
year (including commercial waste).
This is enough waste to fill Bath Abbey 22 times.
We send 50,000 tonnes by train to a landfill site in
Buckinghamshire. The rest is sent by road to landfill sites in
Somerset and Wiltshire. We do not dispose of any waste within
our own district. This is not sustainable.
Landfill space is running out and disposing of waste is becoming
more expensive. New laws mean that we will face significant
financial penalties if we continue to landfill so much. If we
don’t divert more of our waste from landfill then we could be fined
in excess of £33 million over the next 15 years.
We must recycle more and find new ways of treating our waste in
order to reduce the amount we landfill. We must develop local
solutions for treating waste so that we maximise the value of
resources that can be produced from it, and reduce our reliance on
long distance haulage in developing cost effective solutions.
This strategy details the steps we need to take now and over the
next few years to reduce the amount of waste that we produce,
to recycle as much as possible and to develop new ways of treating
the remaining waste to maximise its value and divert it from
landfill.
