Contact Us: Rid Hollands (Communications Officer)Environmental Services Association, 154 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9TRTelephone: 020 7591 3213 Email: R-Hollands@esauk.org Web: www.esauk.org

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Britain’s waste and resource managementindustry provides services which are essential tomodern life. Employing over 142,000 peopleand with an annual turnover of £11bn, thecompanies that make up the sector collect thewaste produced by households and businessesacross the UK, treat the waste responsibly, andturn a large percentage of that waste into newresources and energy for the nation.

In recent years the industry has transformeditself. Ten years ago, over three-quarters ofBritain’s waste went to landfill (compared towell under 50% today) and wastemanagement was chiefly focused on thelogistics of collection and transport. Whilethese still matter, the industry has developeda range of technologies to treat waste andextract value from it. Innovation is a constantfeature of modern waste management.The industry is also at the forefront ofdebates about waste prevention andrecycling.

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Total turnover: £11bn.

Direct Employment: 142,000 people.

Municipal waste handled each year:over 26 million tonnes.

Energy generated (from wastecombustion and landfill gas) each year:approximately 6,500 GWh, 1.5% of theUK’s total electricity supply and over25% of our renewable electricity.Greenhouse gas emissions down by 70%since 1990.

The top seven companies account forover 50% of turnover. Many hundreds ofSMEs provide either localised or morespecialised services.

THE SECTOR AT A GLANCE

The Environmental Services Association (ESA)was founded as the National Association ofWaste Disposal Contractors (NAWDC) in 1968.Today ESA’s Members represent 85% of thesector, including all the major companies, andESA speaks on their behalf in Britain and in theEU. ESA:

Lobbies constructively for a policyframework which enables ESA Membersto operate profitably and responsibly forthe benefit of the UK environment.

Prepares sector health and safetyguidance.

Works to raise operational standardsacross the industry.

ESA: THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRYWho We AreForeword

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The waste and resource management sector is a vibrant industry with a great future.We directly employ over 140,000 people in all parts of the country, collect andmanage waste from homes, shops, businesses, schools and hospitals all across thecountry, and manage it in a way which keeps people and our environment safe.When I first joined the industry the focus was on disposing of waste through landfill,but today that picture is transformed, as the companies which make up the industryinvest in a range of increasingly sophisticated treatment processes meaning that whatyou throw away as waste becomes someone else’s valuable raw material. That’s goodfor the environment and good for the British economy.

However, we want to do even more. With the right policy framework, we standready to invest several £billion in a further upgrade of Britain’s wastemanagement infrastructure. Doing this will ensure that our national and EUwaste targets are met and help build a truly sustainable economy.

This brief has been put together by ESA, the voice of the waste and resourcemanagement industry, to explain how the industry operates and deliverssustainability. I hope you find it of interest.

Ian GoodfellowManaging Director,Shanks UKChairman, ESA

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The waste management industry iscommitted to helping its customers avoidthese risks, through the investment intreatment infrastructure it makes and theservices it offers.

The industry is also helping to meet the UK’sobligations under the EU RenewablesDirective. This requires the UK to source 15%of its primary energy from renewable sourcesby 2020, equivalent to a seven-fold increasein UK renewable energy consumption from2008 levels: the most challenging of any EUMember State1. Some forms of Energy fromWaste (EfW) are officially defined asrenewable, and EfW currently provides over6% of UK renewable electricity – over 1,500GWh (Gigawatt hours) in 2010, according tothe Department of Energy and ClimateChange (DECC). This is enough to power almost200,000 homes for a year, or in other words,nearly all the homes in a city the size ofEdinburgh.

We are helping the UK tackle climate change

Failure to comply with EU and other wastelaw obligations could have seriousconsequences:

For the UK Government (and whererelevant the devolved administrations)failure could mean infraction proceedingsagainst the UK, potentially followed byfines of up to £500,000 per day.

For local authorities, the Localism Billprovides for fines incurred by the UKGovernment because of a local authorities’failure to manage their waste to complywith the EU targets, would be passed onindirectly to residents, as local authoritieswould have to recoup the fines throughCouncil Tax.

For companies, failure to comply withtheir legal duty of care can lead to apenalty of up to £5,000 if convicted inthe Magistrates Court or an unlimitedfine if convicted in the Crown Court.

In addition to the broad principles of thehierarchy, EU law covers all aspects of wastecollection and treatment in great detail. TheLandfill Directive and the Waste FrameworkDirective also set targets such as:

Recycling or preparing for reuse 50% ofhousehold waste by 2020.

Reusing, recycling or recovering 70%of non-hazardous construction &demolition waste by 2020.

Reducing the amount of biodegradablemunicipal waste (BMW) going to landfillto no more than 35% of 1995 levels by2020.

In the past, methane emissions caused bybiodegradable waste in landfills has been asignificant proportion of UK greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions. The industry has worked hardto cut landfill methane emissions by 72% since1990 through:

The industry is also reducing its operationalemissions. ESA has developed a reportingprotocol to help measure this, and returnsfrom ESA Members show GHG emissionsfrom all waste managed in the UK have fallenby 70% since 1990.

But the industry’s influence in cuttingemissions goes much wider. Working withhouseholders, local government and theenvironmental movement, municipalrecycling rates have risen exponentially.In the vast majority of cases, recycling usesless energy (and hence creates fewer carbonemissions), than producing virgin material.For example did you know recyclingaluminium is 20 times more energy efficientthan making it?2

Diverting biodegradable waste away fromlandfill.

Capturing the methane gas from landfillsand using it to generate electricity, withapproximately 4,900 GWh generated in2010.

2 Source: Alupro1 DECC’s Renewable Energy Strategy (RES)

We are helping make Britain’s energysystem more secure

Britain’s energy policy is under enormouspressure. One third of the UK’s electricitygenerating capacity is due to close by 2020,including most of our coal and nuclear powerstations. New coal plants would be toocarbon intensive. New nuclear plants remaina possibility but are less certain in theaftermath of Japan’s nuclear incidents. Windis likely to continue to be installed, butdelivers intermittent power. Gas powerstations may fill much of the gap, but at thecost of increasing reliance on imported gas,much sourced as shale gas through processeswhich are attracting increasing opposition.

Energy from Waste, whether in the form ofincineration with energy recovery, landfillgas, or biogas from Anaerobic Digestion (AD),suffers from none of these problems. It isindigenous, largely renewable, and reliable.Britain needs more of it.

One of ESA’s roles is to work with itsESA Members to raise operational standardsacross the industry. As part of this we arediscussing a ‘Responsibility Deal’ with theGovernment, which will clarify the ways inwhich the industry is committed to buildingon the progress made over recent years inincreasing recycling rates. ESA is alsodeveloping a Code of Practice for theoperators of Materials Recovery Facility(MRFs), which will help ensure the outputfrom MRFs is of consistent quality, which willmaximize the proportion of recycled materialturned into new products.

What ESA is doing...

Through the combined efforts ofhouseholders, local government and ESA’sMembers, municipal recycling rates haverisen from 12% in 2001 to over 40% in 2011.However, we need to do even better – 24mtonnes of all waste is still landfilled eachyear, including almost half of all municipalwaste.

We provide an essential public service

The UK produces 75 million tonnes ofhousehold (municipal), commercial andindustrial waste a year, roughly 200,000tonnes per day. Collecting this waste is oneof the UK’s essential public services, likeenergy supply and the operation of ourtransport networks. As with energy andtransport, any significant interruption to thisservice is of huge concern to the public andthreatens our quality of life. ESA research hasshown that two out of three people believethat waste collection is the most importantservice provided through local authorities.

We enable businesses and public authoritiesto stay compliant with EU law

UK waste policy is largely shaped by the EUWaste Framework Directive and in particularthe ‘waste hierarchy’. According to thehierarchy, landfill should be the last resort fordealing with waste and preventing it arising inthe first place is the ideal. Reusing, recycling orrecovering energy from waste make up themiddle of the hierarchy.

What We Do

The ‘Waste Hierarchy’

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With the economy struggling to recover fromthe worst recession in decades, Britaindesperately needs businesses which have realpotential to create new economic growth andjobs. But the days when the public would acceptthat environmental degradation was anacceptable price to pay for economic growthhave long gone. As the Government has madeclear, the priority must be ‘green growth’.

The waste management sector is well placedto deliver green growth

The sector has a number of attributes thatmake it uniquely suited to delivering greengrowth:

Its economic impact is geographicallydispersed.

It offers better value for money that someother higher profile green sectors (seebelow).

The modern waste management facilitiesbeing planned will improve Britain’senvironmental quality.

Companies are ready to invest now.

Waste infrastructure offers excellent‘green growth’ value

Investment in the waste management andrecycling sector contributes to several of theGovernment’s key environmental objectives.It diverts biodegradable material from landfill,but it also leads to significant carbon savingsas well as the generation of renewableenergy. And green jobs are anotherimportant element of waste managementinvestment. The table below provides a guideto the approximate benefits arising from£1 billion invested in thewaste sector, ascompared toonshore wind.

Waste Infrastructure Onshore Wind

Investment £1 billion3 £1 billion

Carbon savings per annum 4 million tonnes 1.4 million tonnes

Material recycled per annum 1.4 million tonnes 0

Renewable generation p.a. 300 Gigawatt hours 3,250 Gigawatt hours

Permanent jobs created 3,000 650

The Government can help unlock thisinvestment

The waste market is largely created byregulation. This means that the ability ofthe industry to make the large investmentsrequired to move the UK’s waste up thewaste hierarchy depends on the ability ofthe Government to ensure a regulatoryframework which is fit for purpose, stable,predictable and properly enforced. If thepolicy framework does not meet thesecriteria, then even the largest companies inthe sector will struggle to build a strongeconomic case for investment and theirfunders will be reluctant to commit capital.

ESA is lobbying to create the policyframework the industry needs to invest.In particular, ESA is calling for:

A planning system that enables wastemanagement investments in line withnational and local need and goodpractice to get planning permission.

No picking of technology ‘winners’ byGovernment.

‘Grandfathering’ of incentive schemes tohelp give investors confidence.

A recognition of the role of Energy fromWaste in energy policy.

Green procurement by the public sectorto create end-markets for recycled materials.

Much stronger policing of environmentalcrime.

More details can be found in our publicationDriving change: policy proposals for a greener governmentavailable at www.esauk.org

Meeting our recycling targets would saveEnglish businesses and households over£13 billion in landfill costs.

Different estimates for the required capitalinvestment range from £7.5 billion to£20 billionAdditional waste processing from thenew facilities would add almost£2 billion to GDP.

The investment required would lead toover 20,000 construction jobsfollowed by almost 25,000 additionalpermanent jobs across England’seconomy.

These permanent jobs would lead toover £210 million extra spendingin the economy.

The economic impact from new wasteprocessing facilities would be significant4

What ESA is doing...Delivering

Comparison of investment impact of waste and onshore wind

3 Invested in a mix of modern waste infrastructure4 ESA estimates based on published sources

& modelling by Scott Wilson Ltd.See www.esauk.org for more details

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How Waste and Resource Management Works

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Potential skills shortages must be avoided

New technologies, increased mechanisationand the ever increasing need to find ways ofrecycling waste means the waste industry isan exciting industry to be part of. However,there is a shortage of skilled operators andtechnical experts in the sector which meansthere are numerous career opportunitiesavailable. The demand for highly qualifiedengineers, operational managers andprocessing technicians is expected to growsignificantly in the immediate future with200,000 people expected to be employed inthe industry in 2020. The UK's first everdedicated Apprenticeship for the wastemanagement industry has been developed byEnergy & Utility Skills (the Sector Skills Council)in partnership with employers.

SITA UK powers its vehicles with LiquidBiomethane (LBM)

In partnership with Gasrec, the UK’s firstcommercial producer of liquid biomethane(LBM) fuel from landfill gas, SITA UK isgenerating a renewable resource frommunicipal waste that is already helping topower vehicles across the country whichreduces reliance on fossil fuels and lowersemissions at the same time.

SITA UK and Gasrec opened the UK’s firstLBM plant at the Albury landfill site in Surreyin 2008. The facility now produces over 5million litres of LBM each year – which isenough to power 1,098 waste vehicles.

Landfill gas is tapped off, collected andtransported to a site where contaminantsand gases are removed and it is refined to98% methane before being liquefied andthen used in SITA UK’s vehicles. Using LBMmeans potentially harmful greenhouse gasesare not released into the atmosphere, as thelandfill gas is used and by using it instead offossil fuels means there is less reliance onfinite resources. In addition, the convertedengines that use LBM have the added bonusof reducing Carbon Monoxide emissions by98% and are significantly quieter.

5 Based on 2010 provisional data.

Increasingly automated and advancedprocesses and new technologies arebecoming much more widely employed.Innovations being explored include:

While the potential for new technologies isexciting, reliability and proven performanceis also key. Our customers, whetherbusinesses or local authorities, will notaccept waste piling up because of teethingtroubles with new technologies, so carefuljudgement must be made in the pace atwhich innovations are deployed.

Pyrolysis: involves thermal decompositionof waste creating a solid residue, and asynthetic gas (syngas) which can be used asa fuel to generate electricity or steam.

Gasification: a process somewherebetween pyrolysis and combustion andproduces a syngas which can then beburned in a turbine or engine to produceelectricity and steam.

Plasma Arc Gasification: passes a highvoltage electrical current between twoelectrodes, which creates an electricalarc. Inert gas is passed through the arcand into waste material which is brokendown by the extremely hottemperatures, producing syngas, heatand solid residue resembling obsidian.

Waste to fuel: involves waste derivedfrom organic matter being convertedinto fuel. Biogas (a product of AnaerobicDigestion), landfill gas and syngas(produced during gasification) are allnow being used to power a range ofvehicles.

Over 140,000 people are directly employed inthe UK waste management and recyclingindustry. These individuals are employed inall parts of the UK in roles ranging fromskilled manual work to scientists andengineers (support services such asconsultants, contractors andplant/equipment suppliers are also involvedin the industry but not included in thisestimate). These people are the core of ourcompanies.

Health and safety is a priority

More than most sectors, waste managementinvolves hazards to employees which must bemanaged. Collection operatives must work inthe middle of rush hour traffic, handlingmaterials such as broken glass and sharpmetal. Materials Recovery Facility, landfillsites and EfW plants involve large scalemachinery and moving vehicles. Hazardouswastes, from clinical waste to toxic materials,must be handled and disposed of in a waythat isn’t harmful to the environment orhuman health.

Given this context, health and safety has been amajor priority for many years. ESA’s Membersare committed to creating a safe workingenvironment for their workforce and the publicalike and since the launch of ESA’s accidentreduction charter in 2004 have reducedaccidents by over 60%5.

Looking AfterOur People

ESA has established a trainingpartnership with the CharteredInstitution of Wastes Management(CIWM) to ensure that industry hasaccess to courses which will meet thesector’s training needs.

In 2004, ESA and the Health and SafetyExecutive launched an accidentreduction charter which aimed to reducethe incidence rate of accidentsreportable under the reporting ofinjuries, diseases and dangerousoccurrences regulations (RIDDOR) by10% every year until 2013. ESA’scommitment to the charter wasstrengthened with the launch of asectoral Health and safety strategysetting out the industry’s health andsafety goals and the activities requiredto meet these goals within a cleartimetable.

ESA continues to work with its Membersto reduce accident rates and ensure theongoing commitment to prevent illnessand injury to industry workers and thegeneral public.

What ESA is doing...

The use of technology has becomefundamental, helping ever more value to berecovered from waste.

Innovation

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Veolia Environmental Services andRecyclebank pioneer rewards for recycling

Innovation can be about service delivery aswell as technology. Following the hugelysuccessful Recyclebank pilot and subsequentlaunch run by Veolia Environmental Servicesand the Royal Borough of Windsor &Maidenhead, residents in Lambeth willbecome the first in London to participate inthe innovative Recyclebank recycling rewardsscheme.

In 2009, over 6,500 households tested thescheme, earning Recyclebank points for theirrecycling efforts. Since then, according to theRoyal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead:

The implementation of the Recyclebankprogramme in Lambeth, in partnership withVeolia Environmental Services, is a key partof Lambeth Council’s plans to encouragemore people to recycle and save costs byreducing the amount the borough has to payfor waste disposal.

The initiative, which officially launched inMay 2011, will allow 51,000 multi-occupancyhouseholds across the borough to startearning points for their recycling efforts.If it is successful, it is planned that theCouncil will roll out the programme to allresidents in the Borough within 12 months.

61% of eligible households haveactivated their rewards accounts.

More than 20 million Recyclebank Pointshave been earned for discounts andoffers at over 100 shops, leisure centres,businesses, attractions andcafés/restaurants; many residents havegiven their Points to charity and schools.

Residents in the trial increased theirrecycling by 35%.

Most of us adopt a mindset of ‘out of sight,out of mind’ when it comes to waste, and soit is unsurprising that communities aresometimes dubious about hosting wasteinfrastructure. Equally, waste managementcompanies sometimes find the planningsystem frustrating to work with. For example,when the very local authority which hascontracted with them to build a plant rejectsthe planning application, or when thedevelopment plan, to which the companymust pay great attention, is many years outof date and takes no account of changingthinking about waste management.

The Government’s policy of localism hasrightly focused attention on these issues.While there is no easy solution there aresome clear issues to be addressed.The industry needs to:

Ensure that the best practice that existsin working with communities, both inminimising nuisance from operating sitesand consulting them pre-application isas widespread as possible.

Articulate and emphasise the benefitsof waste infrastructure to localcommunities.

The Government, local authorities and thewaste industry also need to work together toresolve the debate about how best to realisecommunity benefits. For example throughovercoming the market failures that canundermine the economics of district heatingschemes to make use of surplus heat from EfW;or clarifying how the additional income fromBusiness Rates paid by a new wastedevelopment will benefit those mostaffected by the development.

ESA’s Members work with communities,helping to better the environment for thelocal community through funding a varietyof projects paid for from landfill tax credits.Some of these projects are listed overleafbut that’s not all - within the 2006-2009period ESA’s Members planted over 300,000trees, over 10 km of hedgerow and plannedor achieved over 1900 uses for restored landfor either agriculture, nature conservation,amenity, recreation or industrial purposes.In addition to this, ESA’s Members had 93%of landfill sites within a Local BiodiversityAction Plan in 2008.

Working With Communities

ESA sponsors the Letsrecycle award for‘Innovation in Design of a WasteManagement or Recycling Facility’.

What ESA is doing...

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Some of the schemes ESA Members operateare below:

Tackling waste crime and fly tipping

One issue which affects the quality of life inlocal communities is the extent of wastecrime, ranging from fly tipping at one end toorganised crime at the other. Businesseshave a responsibility to ensure the wastethey produce or handle is managed anddisposed of legally – in 2009/10 almost 1,050illegal dumping incidents were dealt with bythe Environment Agency and over 960 illegalwaste sites were stopped. However, with theaverage fine in 2009 being £5,900, it is clearthat the penalties are insufficient to determany criminal operators.

The Prime Minister,David Cameron, in a speech toBusiness in the Community inDecember 2010, challenged allbusinesses in Britain to showtheir commitment to widersociety through doing fivethings in particular.In each of these areas the wastemanagement industry has agood record:

Biffaward is a multi-million pound fundwhich awards grants to community andenvironmental projects across the UK.The fund’s money comes from landfill taxcredits donated by Biffa Waste Services.Biffaward is managed by the Royal Societyof Wildlife Trusts on Biffa’s behalf.

More than £1million in landfill tax grantsfrom the Cory Trust has benefitted CarrickDistrict Council’s local community.Supported projects include a new wasteand recycling education centre at theTruro depot and hundreds more such asa garden of reflection for disabledyoungsters and new stained glasswindows made from recycled bottlesfor a local church.

Viridor provided £9,409,206 of funding forconservation and community projects inareas of landfill operations via the LandfillCommunities Fund in 2010 alone. Suchprojects can create significant long-termenvironmental and social benefits,including jobs and volunteer engagementopportunities. This successful andinnovative tax credit scheme enableslandfill operators to contribute up to 6% oflandfill tax liability to registeredEnvironmental Bodies, such as ViridorCredits Environmental Company, providingimportant funding for local communitiesand conservation groups.

WRG has provided new educationfacilities for school pupils and communitygroups, with more than 2,000 children ayear are expected to take part in thenational curriculum-linked educationsessions through an interactive schoolswebsite www.re3schools.org.uk

ESA Members actively encourage there-use of bulky household items, such asfridges, freezers and televisions. Some ESAmembers work with local companies, whorecondition bulky items and sell these onto low income families at affordable prices,ensuring that the waste moves up thewaste hierarchy.

‘Improving skills and creating jobs’:The industry is developing trainingprogrammes and is hoping to create40,000 new jobs by 2020.

‘Supporting SMEs’:The industry provides services to SMEs,whose recycling rates have risen steadily inrecent years.

‘Cutting carbon and protecting theenvironment’:Improving the environment is theindustry’s raison d’etre. And greenhousegas emissions from the sector have beencut by 70%.

‘Improving the quality of life andwellbeing of employees’:The industry has reduced accident ratesand is committed to making further gains.

‘Supporting local communities’:The industry operates many local schemes- please see previous page for examples.

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ESA is determined to see tougher action oncompanies and individuals who deliberatelyflout environmental laws. To this end we areworking with the Environment Agency (EA) toensure that ESA Members’ intelligence aboutwaste crime is passed on to EA in a form thatcan be acted on. We are also lobbying formuch tougher sanctions on waste criminals.

What ESA is doing...

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