Lord de Mauley, Parliament Under Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has written to the attendees of the Waste Investor Symposium held in May this year, informing them of developments since the event.

The summit, thought to be the ‘first’ of its kind, was hosted by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and saw government and industry representatives meet at Livery Hall, London to find ways to invest in the waste and recycling sector, which Defra projects will grow by three per cent per year.

According to the letter, ‘key’ themes that were identified at the symposium, and have required subsequent action, include:

Improvements in data provision

The summit identified the need for improvements in the quality and quantity of information available to ‘enable investors to quantify investments risks more specifically’. According to Defra, ‘data on performance, plant availability, quality and availability of materials etc. should provide clarity and help to mitigate risk’.

Lord de Mauley has said that work will begin with a review by the Sustainable Development Research Network (SDRN) of existing data from the UK, EU and worldwide, followed by the convening of a small working group by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to identify ‘true’ data gaps and define ‘key’ data requirements of investors and developers.

Improved cross-department communication

Feedback from attendees of the symposium strongly focused on the need for a joint approach from government departments on issues including the collection of waste (household, commercial and industrial). Attendees called for a ‘joined up’ approach, not just within Defra, but also between other government departments.

In light of these recommendations, Defra has since internally restructured work relating to resource management, resource efficiency and sustainability policies to bring them together under one directorship. It hopes that this will ‘improve the coordination of policies affecting the resource management sector’.

Assistance with business planning

WRAP has identified three actions to help improve the quality of business planning and management capability, and ways developers and investors could be matched more effectively across the UK.

The initiatives include: coordinating a series of ‘regular, regional School of Investment sessions’ with investors providing advice to developers; setting up a series of sector/material/issue specific networking events to ‘increase industry ownership of ideas’; coordinating introductions between developers and ‘qualified’ interim managers who are in the business of providing ‘more detailed planning advice and guidance’.

Opportunities for hedging

Defra has identified ‘a number of benefits’ to introducing hedging (where an intermediary buys and sells commodities on the basis of future prices) to the waste and resources market, including:

• helping to keep valuable resources in the UK;
• stabilising prices, and reducing the impact of global variability;
• driving up quality; and
• bringing long-term contracts (and therefore stability for both operators and investors) to the market.

WRAP will convene a small working group to review the ‘viability’ of introducing this mechanism to the market, which will lead to further actions. Defra expects the waste management sector to ‘take the lead’ on this matter after the initial WRAP-led review.

Improved policy and regulatory consistency

Comments at the symposium also highlighted the need to improve the implementation of regulations, for example by increasing penalties for those in breach of the law, ‘quicker and more consistent’ enforcement across the supply chain and reducing illegal activities.

Three actions have been identified for future consideration when the new Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) Code of Practice is introduced in the autumn, and once communication plans are agreed on waste crime:

• publication of the MRF regulations;
• better publicity of the discussions with the Ministry of Justice on waste crime; and
• liaison of UK government departments with regulators on ways in which these recommendations could be implemented.

Improved training and development

Discussions at the symposium also supported the requirement to ‘increase the overall level of technical skills and capability within the sector to ensure stable and profitable operation’, including the provision of skills from outside the UK.

Defra will now write to UK trade bodies to encourage them to ‘engage with training providers to establish the best mechanisms for providing additional training’, and request that they remind their members of the ‘importance’ of responding to government consultations and industry surveys.

Towards the end of his letter, Lord de Mauley added that he ‘welcomes’ further input to ‘help progress this activity further’.

Read more about the Waste Investment Symposium.