12.0 WASTE MANAGEMENT

National Context

12.1 National Policy⁸ sets out a number of objectives including:

Encouraging and engaging with the community to take more responsibility for dealing with waste
Disposing of waste without harming human health and the environment
Locating waste recycling, handling and reduction facilities as close as practicable to the origin of waste
Driving waste management up the waste hierarchy, with disposal as a last resort (see below).

12.2 The 'waste hierarchy' consists of the following:

Prevent/Reduce/Minimise waste production	Most preferred option ↓
Re-use waste	↓
Re-cycle waste	↓
Recover energy from waste	↓
Disposal	↓ Least preferred option

12.3 Whilst the responsibility for dealing with waste (and minerals) lies principally with County Councils, District Councils can help promote kerbside collection and community recycling through planning policy. This can be done by ensuring that new development makes sufficient provision for waste management and promoting designs and layouts that secure the integration of waste management facilities; this should be done without adverse impact on the street scene or, in less developed areas, the local landscape.

Hertfordshire Waste Development Framework

12.4 Hertfordshire County Council are producing two waste development documents that will eventually replace the Hertfordshire Waste Local Plan 1995-2005:

The Core Strategy and Development Management Policies Document sets out the spatial vision and strategic objectives for waste planning in Hertfordshire. It also contains the policies need to implement these objectives as detailed generic development management policies that will be used to make decisions on waste planning applications.
The Site Allocations Document identifies a range of sites for waste management facilities including municipal, commercial, industrial and commercial wastes. A number of existing sites are included in Three Rivers.

12.5 Further information on these documents can be viewed at http://www.hertsdirect.org.

Local Context

12.6 The amount of waste produced in Hertfordshire is approximately 3 million tonnes per year, of which over 500,000 tonnes is local authority collected (household waste). Hertfordshire has limited landfill capacity and has only one remaining landfill that is expected to be available until 2017. At present a large proportion of waste is exported out of the County. In order to reduce dependency on landfill, levels of recycling are increasing, particularly in Three Rivers which has the highest rate of recycling of household waste in Hertfordshire at 51.1% for 2010/11 Nevertheless, 60% of all of Hertfordshire's household waste still goes to landfill. In seeking to reduce the amount of overall waste produced locally it will be important to:

Re-use materials wherever possible: high value materials such as bricks, slates, tiles, beams and architectural details can often be re-used for the same function
Sorting of waste and recycling on-site: allowing space on-site for segregating of construction waste and recycling where conditions allow
Use of pre-cast/pre-fabricated materials and modular construction: components such as pre-cast concrete beams, insulated wall panels, bathroom pods reduce the amount of waste generated
Use materials with recycled content: products are available that incorporate waste into the manufacturing process that have the same performance and costs as non-recycled materials. The Sustainable Buildings Task Group (2004) recommended that the target for recycled and re-used content in new buildings is at least 10%
Allocate appropriate recycling storage facilities: providing sufficient space within development for domestic kerbside collection and composting facilities, or larger commercial waste recycling facilities, will facilitate recycling generally.

Further Guidance for Applicants

12.7 For new development, waste and recycling storage areas should be integrated into the scheme layout at the initial stages and must demonstrate adequate space to facilitate waste recycling through separation, storage, handling, bulking and collection of waste generated within the property. These facilities should be well-designed so that they do not detract from the amenity of the area in which they are located. Applicants should also ensure that there is adequate space on site to ensure that waste containers can be easily accessed and collected by local authority/private waste contractors. Proposals incorporating waste storage areas which are difficult to access for occupiers and waste contractors are unlikely to be supported.

12.8 The Council also encourages measures which contribute to reducing waste wherever possible Developers will be expected to provide information on how development will reduce waste as part of the C Plan Energy and Sustainability Statement required under Policy CP1 of the Core Strategy.

12.9 A Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) should be completed for all construction projects that are worth more than £300,000. This aims to reduce the amount of waste produced on site and is designed to support relevant developments to include details of the management of waste at construction and demolition sites. Completed SWMPs will be passed onto the Waste Planning Authority.

DM10 Waste Management

a) The Council will ensure that there is adequate provision for the storage and recycling of waste and that these facilities are fully integrated into design proposals. New development will only be supported where:

The siting or design of waste/recycling areas would not result in any adverse impact to residential or work place amenities
Waste/recycling areas can be easily accessed (and moved) by occupiers and local authority/private waste providers
There would be no obstruction of pedestrian, cyclists or driver sight lines

b) New development will be expected to contribute to reducing the amount of waste generated through the following measures where possible:

Re-using materials wherever possible as part of construction
Enable the sorting of waste and recycling on-site taking into account impact on residential amenities and the environment
Using pre-cast/pre-fabricated materials and modular construction
Allocating appropriate refuse and recycling storage facilities for domestic kerbside collection, composting facilities and commercial waste recycling facilities.

*Policy Links*
National Policy (others may also be relevant)	PPS10: Planning for Sustainable Waste Management Planning for Sustainable Waste Management: A Companion Guide to PPS10.
Related Core Strategy Policies	CP1: Overarching Policy on Sustainable Development CP8: Infrastructure and Planning Obligations CP12: Design of Development
Core Strategy Strategic Objective	S1, S3

*Policy Links*
National Policy (others may also be relevant)	PPS10: Planning for Sustainable Waste Management Planning for Sustainable Waste Management: A Companion Guide to PPS10.
Related Core Strategy Policies	CP1: Overarching Policy on Sustainable Development CP8: Infrastructure and Planning Obligations CP12: Design of Development
Core Strategy Strategic Objective	S1, S3

Further Guidance

Building Futures: A Hertfordshire guide to promoting sustainability in development
(http://www.hertslink.org/buildingfutures).
Hertfordshire Waste Partnership: http://www.wasteaware.org.uk/
Three Rivers District Council: Our Climate is Changing http://www.ourclimateischanging.com/
Site Waste Management Plans: Waste & Resources Action Programme Guidance
http://www.wrap.org.uk/construction/tools_and_guidance/site_waste_management_planning/

Reasoned Justification

12.10 The need to reduce waste as part of development is acknowledged at all levels. Policy DM10 seeks to reduce, re-use and recycle waste as part of the construction process and for the design of development to facilitate waste recycling.

12.11 The policy approach will contribute directly to Core Strategy Objective 3: reducing the impact on the environment by reducing waste.

⁸Planning Policy Statement 10: Planning for Sustainable Waste Management

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