Wigan Council's Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategy provides a framework for managing municipal solid waste between now and 2020. As a Unitary Authority, Wigan Council is responsible for providing both waste and recycling collection and disposal services. This Strategy Document has been prepared to comply with Government Guidance for the Development of Municipal Waste Management Strategies.
The Strategy sets out how the Borough intends to manage waste arisings within the context of the waste management hierarchy. In simple terms, it answers the following questions:
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to be and when? and
- How do we get there?
Scope and context
Amongst other legal requirements, Authorities must now meet statutory recycling and composting targets for waste from households by 2006 and must progressively reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) landfilled each year between 2005 and 2020. Additionally, the tax on landfilling waste is likely to almost double in the next six years. The penalty for not diverting sufficient amounts of BMW from landfill will be around £150 for each tonne over the permitted amount. This provides further incentive for reducing waste.
Current performance: Where are we now?
In 2004/05, 258,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste was generated within Wigan MBC. During this period, Wigan achieved a recycling rate of 15.04%, exceeding the statutory recycling target of 10% set by Central Government. In 2003/4 a recycling rate of 11.89% was achieved, exceeding the statutory target of 10%. In preparation for the targets set for 2005/6, kerbside collection of both paper and garden waste commenced, in addition to improvements to all Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). However, the amount of waste continues to grow in Wigan.
Strategy Objectives: Where are we going?
In order to meet Government targets and to reduce the impact of waste on the environment, the following objectives have been developed to guide waste management within Wigan. The way we manage waste must improve. Wigan is no different to many other areas in that we still send large quantities of waste to landfill. We are improving the way we manage waste and recycling more and more of our waste, but we have a long way to go to maximise the amount of waste we recycle. As we move to a more sustainable way of living we must utilise our resources better including materials we have finished with or discarded. Reducing the amount of waste must be a priority, along with increasing recycling levels to deliver a more sustainable way of life in Wigan Borough.
Our objectives are to:
- Promote home composting of green and kitchen waste through the continued provision of reduced price compost bins and support for residents composting their waste
- To undertake a comprehensive waste education and awareness programme in the Borough to explain waste management issues, and to provide information to residents of all ages, provided sufficient funding is available
- Promote the authorised recycling and disposal of commercial waste and actively enforce the new access policy for household waste recycling centres
- Promote waste minimisation and recycling in schools, council buildings, depots,and businesses
- Increase the number of bring recycling sites in the Borough to 150 to ensure that all residents have a bring site within 1km of their home
- Provide 80,000 properties with kerbside collection of garden waste by the end of 2006
- All suitable properties to be provided with the following recycling collections by the end of 2009:
- Fortnightly collection of dry recyclables such as plastics, glass, cans and paper
- Fortnightly collection of green waste (for properties generating green waste)
- Improve existing HWRCs to increase accessibility to recycling for residents and investigate an additional HWRC in the Borough
- Maximise cost-effective recycling and composting of waste before utilising residual waste management technology
- Utilise residual waste treatment technology (either Energy from Waste or Mechanical Biological Treatment) to meet the medium to long term requirements of the Borough under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. Consideration will be given to partnership working with other authorities if this can provide demonstrable benefits to the Council.
Our targets are to aim to:
- Reduce municipal waste growth to 1% by 2010 and to 0% by 2020
- Achieve statutory recycling and composting standards for 2005/6
- Recycle or compost 30% of waste by 2009/10, 33% in 2015/16 and 50% by 2020
- Recover 45% of waste by 2009/10 and 67% in 2015/16
- Reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to levels consistent with those set for Wigan by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to section 4 of the Waste and Emissions Trading Act
- Serve all households with a recycling collection of at least two materials by 2010 to meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003
- Increase recycling at HWRCs to 60%+ by 2010
Action Plan: How do we get there?
Wigan will achieve the targets set out in this Strategy by working in partnership with the community, contractors and other stakeholders. Specific actions are set out in the strategy's Action Plan (see Annex B of the strategy document). Wigan will update the Action Plans periodically, at least every two years, as a minimum. If the Action Plan no longer fits with the overarching Strategy, this will trigger a review of this high-level document.
This Strategy has been developed in line with the waste hierarchy – seeking waste prevention and reuse, prioritising the recycling and composting of wastes that are produced, recovering energy from residual waste and disposing only as a last resort once these options have been exhausted.
The full waste strategy document
The complete document, with tables and data on present and future waste management issues, plus demographic information, can be downloaded as a pdf file here. Where possible, please save paper and avoid printing out copies.
Future waste management
As Unitary Authority, Wigan Council provides both waste and recycling collection and disposal services. It achieved a recycling rate of 21.67% in 2006/7, exceeding the statutory recycling target of 18% set by Central Government. In 2006/7 Wigan managed approximately 205,000 tonnes of MSW. The estimated population of the borough in 2006 was 307,941.
With pressures now changing Wigan Council recognises the need to make significant adjustments to the way waste is managed in the borough and make moves away from the heavy reliance on landfill. In order to have waste disposal arrangements in place from November 2012 when the contract with the current waste management contractors ends, the Council has considered the options available. These have been published in an expression of interest document (.pdf, 896kb). This sets out the council's position in the development of a long-term waste treatment solution that will meet the targets set in National Waste Strategy for England 2007 and meet LATS obligations.
