Environment

The long-awaited waste strategy for England has been delayed again and will not be published until after the local government elections in May.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has already put back publication of the strategy so it can digest the findings of Sir Michael Lyons’ inquiry into local government, which was released last month, only a week before the break-up of Parliament.

A Defra spokeswoman said this had not given the government enough time to finalise the strategy before the start of local election campaigns.

It is understood that the strategy will include proposals to generate more energy from waste, and improvements to the low rates of plastics recycling, although this will be boosted by plans for a PET recycling plant in London.

Lyons suggested the state should consider allowing local authorities to charge for the collection of domestic waste.

But the Local Government Association said councils would be more likely to use any proceeds to cover the increase in landfill tax, announced in Gordon Brown’s Budget (page 3), than to develop alternatives.

Councils also wanted to see less packaging used in the first place, rather than biodegradable materials, she said.

Meanwhile, a Defra-funded report has backed the idea of alternative week collection of waste, where recyclables are collected one week and residual waste the next.

Environment minister Ben Bradshaw said this had increased recycling in places where it had been adopted.

Lyons Inquiry final report from www.lyonsinquiry.org

Health Impact Assessment of Alternate Week Waste Collections of Biodegradable Waste from www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/index.htm