2.1 The three Councils’ waste management strategy for the period 1996-2006 is contained within the approved Leicestershire Waste Disposal (Management) Plan, hereinafter referred to as the Management Plan, the final version of which was approved in November 1995 following a consultation exercise with interested parties. The Management Plan was prepared under the provisions of Section 50 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and its purpose was to consider what arrangements are needed for the disposal of controlled waste in the Plan Area and to ensure that controlled waste is deposited so that it prevents or minimises pollution of the environment or harm to human health.

2.2 The Management Plan embraces waste minimisation at source and re-use, recycling, composting, and energy recovery from household waste by the process of anaerobic digestion. In combination these elements of the Management Plan will limit the quantity of waste taken to final disposal. Landfill, with energy recovery where appropriate, will remain as the final disposal element which allows the growth of the higher priority objectives of the strategy.

2.3 The Waste Local Plan deals with the land use implications of the three Councils’ waste strategy as set out in the Management Plan for the period between 1996 and 2006. This includes a recognition of the continuing need for landfill for the majority of waste arisings from the Plan Area; provision for land and buildings associated with waste re-use, recycling, composting and energy recovery; schemes ancillary to waste management (e.g. transfer stations) and other types of waste recovery (e.g. scrapyards).

2.4 Waste minimisation is the reduction of unwanted outputs from the manufacturing process and the manufacture of products that are likely to result in less waste when they are used. This would have the overall effect of reducing the amount of waste having to be treated and taken to final disposal.

2.5 Leicestershire County Council was a Project Partner in the Leicestershire Waste Minimisation Initiative, which examined the potential for waste minimisation in industry. The Environment Agency took over the County Council’s role as from 1st April 1996. 10 companies took part in the initial phases of the Initiative and included a representative sample of Leicestershire companies. Potential savings of £3m for the 10 participating companies were identified. It was envisaged that this would encourage others to implement waste minimisation programmes in their companies and benefit from environmental and commercial performance improvements.

2.6 An enabling Policy, WLP 1, has been included in the Plan to assist companies with their waste minimisation initiatives. Waste minimisation through improved design of products and re-use of products are matters for manufacturers to carry out through their companies’ research and development programmes to alter the design of products, their packaging and materials.

2.7 Re-use involves putting an item to another use after its original function has been fulfilled. It can result in added value and utility before final disposal. Action can be taken to improve the current situation, and the three Councils are examining methods of re-using waste in their capacity as Waste Disposal Authorities. These include the use of incentives for waste re-use, the promotion of deposits, refund and refillable packaging, group buying, highlighting consumer choice for reduced packaging and waste and promoting the use of reusable nappies and associated services.

2.8 This is the collection and separation of materials from waste and subsequent processing to produce marketable products (e.g. paper, glass and plastics). There are considerable differences in the rate of recycling between different types of waste. The rate of recycling for industrial waste is as high as 31%. The percentage of household waste recycled in the Plan Area in 1993/94 was 4% of all waste in terms of weight. Due to a substantial increase in recycling initiatives, this has increased to over 20% of all household waste by 2002. In the case of industrial waste, there is an incentive for producers to reduce their waste disposal costs through increased rates of recycling. The Government has set challenging targets to increase the recycling and composting of household waste which are set out in paragraph 1.15 of the Plan but these will be difficult to achieve. There are a number of constraints to further major increases in recycling and composting, the most significant being the difficult market conditions that currently prevail and the depressing effect which further recyclables would have on this. This uncertainty over future recycling rates has been taken into account in Chapter 4 of the Plan when considering the future provision for waste disposal. This chapter presents four possible scenarios each using different assumptions in terms of future rates of recycling and the amount of waste to be landfilled. The three Councils’ preferred scenario for the calculation of future provision is one which assumes that the current rate of increase in the recycling of household and civic amenity waste will continue during the Plan Period. The calculation of the four scenarios is set out in Appendix A of the Plan.

2.9 Most things can be recycled but the constraints of available markets, cost, technology and environmental impact limit the practical recycling operations. Materials commonly recycled include paper, cardboard, glass, cans, some plastics, textiles and putrescible food and garden waste, which breaks down into compost under the right conditions.

2.10 Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and all Waste Collection Authorities in Leicestershire are currently developing an integrated Household Waste Management Strategy. The Strategy is intended to set out the priorities for achieving more sustainable waste management in Leicestershire and Leicester City by co-ordinating each authority’s decision-making process. All the partners working together will produce the Strategy. It will have regard to the Waste Local Plan, but expects to extend this into an agreed framework for the practicable management of waste. Rutland County Council, being a unitary authority in control of the statutory functions of waste disposal and collection, is developing its own integrated and sustainable Household Waste Management Strategy. This will be linked in with the Waste Local Plan.

2.11 Sorting of household waste materials such as glass, paper and tin cans, can be done at a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). MRFs can sort either "dry" or "wet" waste. A dry MRF is dependent upon a segregated waste collection system. Wet MRFs and associated treatment facilities are not dependent upon a segregated waste collection system. Both of these facilities sort and grade waste either manually or mechanically which is then baled and sold on to private companies for recycling and re-use. Three dry MRFs exist in the Plan Area at Whetstone and Slater Street, Leicester and Melton. New MRF facilities over the Plan Period are anticipated. The proposals for an Integrated Waste Management Facility at Newhurst Quarry include provision for a MRF with a capacity of up to 170,000 tonnes per annum. Leicester City Council is considering a new MRF with a capacity of 30,000 tpa as part of its PFI bid for a new integrated waste management service with a range of facilities to receive and treat 140,000 tpa of municipal waste. The New Albion proposals could also accommodate a MRF facility. New and extensions to existing facilities will be considered in the light of policies contained in the Plan.

2.12 Civic amenity waste is that household waste taken by the public to sites provided by the three Councils under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 whereby the public may dispose of household refuse free of charge at all reasonable times. There are a total of 19 recycling and household waste sites in the Plan Area where there is segregation of waste for recycling. These sites are set out in the Management Plan. It will accord with the proximity principle if these facilities are located as close as possible to waste arisings in order to minimise transportation of waste, subject to environmental considerations set out in Policy WLP 8. New, extensions and replacement facilities for existing recycling and household waste sites will be considered in the light of policies contained in the Plan.

2.13 Industry already recycles large amounts of its manufacturing waste, particularly metals. This is because they can often be re-used with relatively little expense and disposal costs are avoided. However, more could be done in various sectors. Apart from scrapyards this type of recycling facility is normally "in-house" and does not fall under planning control. Following the introduction of an EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, legislation was introduced in the form of Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. All businesses, which manufacture, fill or sell packaging materials in excess of 50 tonnes a year and have an annual turnover in excess of £2 million will be subject to these regulations. The Directive target for the recovery of packaging waste is 50%, to be achieved by member states by 2001. The full recovery and recycling targets

became mandatory in 2001. It will be the responsibility of the Environment Agency to ensure compliance with regulations. Directive targets will be revised in 2006 and once agreed the UK Government will amend the UK targets to ensure compliance.

2.14 Scrap metal wastes are mostly collected through a well established infrastructure, passing from the smaller scrap metal yards to the main dealers. At each stage in the chain, the scrap is sorted to remove high value non-ferrous items and bulked into standard classes of material. Large items are broken down using processes such as cutting, compacting and fragmentising, each producing a particular grade of scrap metal for re-use. Certain waste residues from scrapyards can require specific handling facilities to ensure they are effectively managed.

2.15 The key planning issues relating to scrapyards are visual impact, pollution risks, noise, dust and traffic. Many scrapyards were established before planning controls existed and as a result may be poorly located and designed. For example, some scrapyards have become established in open countryside, and within residential areas. Suitable locations may include industrial estates which can accommodate development of this character without detriment to the amenities of adjoining occupiers.

2.16 Most construction and demolition waste can be recycled to form secondary aggregates. Crushed bricks and rubble can be re-used on building sites for levelling purposes, or graded for use in road construction. Using waste in this way conserves mineral resources and so reduces the potential for environmental impact from mineral extraction. For this reason, the use of secondary aggregates is encouraged in Government guidance (MPG6).

2.17 Aggregate Recycling Facilities (ARFs) crush, screen and sort construction and demolition waste to form secondary aggregates. Preferred locations for ARFs are within industrial estate areas and existing mineral and waste management sites. Industrial estate locations within an urban or edge of town location would have the advantage of minimising haulage costs for this type of waste, the majority of which arises in the urban environment. The key planning issues to consider are noise, dust, traffic and visual impact. In addition to ARFs, a number of mobile recycling plants operate at some demolition, waste management and mineral sites. Existing mineral and waste management sites are suitable locations for ARFs provided that they are linked to the life of the site and do not lead to any unacceptable environmental impacts. There are a number of such facilities at various locations around the Plan Area including Bradgate Quarry, Woolfox Quarry and Ellistown Works. Policy WLP2 applies to recycling and re-use of all types of waste.

2.18 As part of the Management Plan, anaerobic digestion was identified as the preferred option to recover energy from household waste. Anaerobic digestion technology has a well established track record in respect of solid waste management in Europe but to date has not been utilised on a commercial scale in this country. However, given the growing interest in anaerobic digestion by the waste industry and Waste Disposal Authorities, it is possible that the contribution that this technology will make as part of an integrated waste management service will become increasingly significant.

2.19 For the anaerobic digestion process, the primary waste input will be putrescible food waste which ideally should be collected separately from other types of waste. A plant could be purpose-built or could make use of similar plant presently used to treat sewage sludge or farm waste. The methane gas generated within the process could be used to generate electricity to power the plant. The digestate could then either be sold, landspread as soil conditioner or taken to landfill.

2.20 The anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge is presently carried out at water treatment works at Loughborough and Wanlip. It may be possible to combine household waste with either sewage sludge or farm waste in a combined plant. There are no existing large-scale anaerobic digestion plants that have been installed within the Plan Area specifically dealing with household waste. If a new anaerobic digestion plant was proposed, the most suitable locations are considered to be existing sewage treatment works, or on existing or proposed landfill sites, subject to appropriate environmental considerations. Garden, food, vegetable and industrial food processing wastes, brought to landfill for disposal, could be diverted to an anaerobic digestion facility which could use unsorted domestic refuse with a front end loading system. Planning considerations for these facilities would include a suitable vehicle access, impact on amenities to adjoining residents by reason of visual intrusion, noise or smell and disposal of digestate. Given the capital investment associated with anaerobic digestion facilities, a considerable amount of household, garden, and food processing waste and paper would need to be fed into the facility to ensure its economic viability. Anaerobic digestion facilities will be considered in accordance with Policy WLP 3.

2.21 Composting is a natural process. It is the breakdown of organic material in the presence of air. Various waste elements can be composted including wood, food, paper and garden waste (grass cuttings, hedge trimmings etc.). The best compost is produced when the correct amount of air is present.

2.22 Composting is seen as playing a key role in achieving waste reduction in the Plan Area through the establishment of new facilities and expanding existing composting activities. It is envisaged that proposed schemes will involve both local authorities and private operators. Preferred locations would be at waste disposal sites or household waste recycling centres. Certain industrial estate locations may also be suitable. Composting can be carried out either as an outdoor activity or alternatively within a building. The building can be either a converted store building (i.e. a barn) or purpose built structure with air and odour control systems. A large site area may be required for the storage and maturation of compost outside the building. The type of waste to be composted will be an important factor in deciding whether indoor or outdoor composting is appropriate. Following research into the health effects and environmental impacts of composting facilities, the Environment Agency have produced an interim position statement. Consequently, the Agency will object to any planning application for any new composting process (or any modification to an existing process) where the site boundary is within 250 metres of a workplace or a boundary of a dwelling, unless the application is accompanied by a site specific risk assessment, based on clear, independent scientific evidence, which shows that bio-aerosol levels are and can be maintained at appropriate levels at the dwelling or workplace. Of particular concern is the potential for putrefying material to give rise to smell, the generation of bio-aerosols, insects, vermin and attraction of birds.

2.23 Suitable composting sites could include either existing or proposed waste disposal sites. Where composting proposals are permitted on waste disposal sites consideration will be given to the imposition of time limits linking operations to the completion of the waste disposal site. This may be appropriate where the visual impact of the composting operation is considered unacceptable when viewed against the background of a restored waste disposal site. However other suitable sites may include land adjoining household waste recycling centres. Other rural locations away from residential areas where schemes would not be detrimental to amenities of adjoining occupiers by reason of smell, visual intrusion, noise and general disturbance with suitable vehicular access, may be acceptable.

2.24 There are currently two composting facilities that are operated by a contractor on behalf of Leicestershire County Council at Kibworth and Lount. These sites receive green waste from household waste recycling centres in the Plan Area. Other trial composting schemes are in operation in the Plan Area and it is envisaged that additional composting proposals will come forward to meet Government targets for waste recovery set out in the National Waste Strategy and referred to in paragraph 1.15 of this Plan.

2.25Proposals for all types of composting facilities will be considered in the light of Policy WLP 4 below.

2.26 The Management Plan expresses concerns over the relative cost of incineration as an option in Leicestershire and the potential effect that it might have on efforts to minimise waste production at source. Experience of large, mass burn incinerators, causes concern over the large amounts of waste needed to ensure commercial viability combined with the need for operators to meet electricity supply contracts. Incineration is not included as one of the elements for meeting the Management Plan's objective of seeking to reduce the quantity of waste taken to final disposal. The Management Plan identifies anaerobic digestion as the best environmental option for recovery of energy from waste rather than incineration.

2.27 As stated, incineration facilities can include mass burn systems that burn municipal solid waste with little pre-treatment. These are usually large, with input rates exceeding 500 tonnes of waste per day in order to gain economies of scale. Emerging modular burn systems are smaller, usually taking 50-250 tonnes of waste per day, and are designed for use by local communities.

2.28 Following the introduction of stricter emission standards under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (which resulted from an EC Directive on the Reduction of Air Pollution from Existing Municipal Waste Incineration Plants) most of the traditional mass burn incinerators in the UK closed during the early - mid 1990's. However, new incinerators built to comply with latest standards have come on-line at various locations in the UK during the past 3 years.

2.29 There are currently no major waste incinerators in the Plan Area. The only incineration of waste in the Plan Area is in small-scale specialist facilities associated with the disposal of in-house industrial waste.

2.30 All clinical and related waste generated within all NHS Trust properties in the Plan Area is now collected by a private sector contractor and taken for incineration. A ten year contract has been signed for the disposal of clinical waste by incineration outside of the Plan Area, which goes beyond the Plan Period. For this reason, it is considered that there will be no requirement to make provision for additional incineration facilities within the Plan Area to dispose of clinical waste during the Plan Period.

2.31 The NWS points out that energy from waste can make an important contribution towards sustainable development and that the most common form of energy recovery is by incineration in specially designed facilities. The Government's Strategy states that incineration with energy recovery will need to play a full and integrated part in local and regional solutions to achieving a sustainable waste management system. Waste to energy incineration must though be considered in the context of an integrated approach to waste management that encourages waste reduction, re-use and recycling. The NWS makes it clear that incineration without the recovery of power or heat is categorised as waste disposal and is not an option the Government would wish to encourage for non-hazardous wastes.

2.32 Where incineration with energy recovery is the best practicable environmental option the NWS indicates that the potential for incorporating "Combined Heat and Power" (CHP) should always be considered. CHP is an efficient technology that produces electricity and heat from a single plant. Typically such plants recover the residual heat from the production of electricity and use it to heat local housing and businesses.

2.33 The NWS suggests that incineration is one of the most technically highly developed waste management options available at present and that there are a wide variety of combustion systems available. It is also among the most strictly regulated waste management options, with the likelihood of a new Directive setting stringent emission limits to virtually all types of waste incinerator.

2.34 The fuel used in incinerators tends to be municipal solid waste (MSW). In the past MSW was usually burnt as delivered. The Strategy highlights that increasingly; incinerators use other recovery processes before incineration, including materials recovery facilities (MRFs), or after incineration through metals recovery and the use of "bottom ash" as a construction material.

2.35 As with all forms of waste management, pollution control of incineration operations is of vital importance. The Waste Strategy 2000 confirms the Government's priority of setting and enforcing high environmental standards and states that the environmental performance of waste incinerators has improved immensely since the early 1990's. It points out that the Waste Incineration Directive is likely to include tighter controls on emission limits, as well as measures to ensure safe and efficient operation of incinerators.

2.36 Some industrial processes and power producing facilities allow the use of high calorific value waste in place of conventional fuels. Typical wastes that are burnt as fuel substitutes are MSW, tyres and spent solvents. Often these wastes are treated prior to their incineration. Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) authorisations limit the extent to which processes can substitute fuels with waste. The draft Waste Incineration Directive also includes limits on emissions that will be placed on plants burning waste alongside other fuels.

2.37 Refuse derived fuel (RDF) is usually produced from municipal solid waste with recyclable and non-combustible materials removed. The product comes in 2 varieties: loose/coarse RDF, or dense RDF in the form of pellets. There are currently 3 facilities producing dense RDF in the UK.

2.38 The Waste Strategy 2000 points out that the immediate need to divert waste away from landfill means that much of the Government's effort over the next 5-10 years is likely to concentrate on increasing recycling, composting and incineration capacity. In the longer term other waste management options may come forward through the development of innovative technologies.

2.39 Although the Plan Area currently contains very little incineration capacity and the Management Plan provides little support for this option, there is the potential, given the content of the Waste Strategy 2000 and improvements in technology, that proposals for new incinerators could come forward during the Plan Period.

2.40 It is acknowledged that appropriately sited, designed and managed incineration facilities would provide a potential strategic benefit in contributing to meeting the targets set in the Waste Strategy 2000 for the diversion of waste away from landfill. The potential impact on waste minimisation initiatives could be overcome by ensuring that the majority of waste burnt in new facilities is pre-sorted prior to being incinerated. MRFs already exist and further facilities are proposed that could meet the requirements for pre-incineration sorting and treatment. The Government expects all incineration proposals to include energy recovery as part of the operation, with CHP a necessary consideration.

2.41 Potential concerns previously associated with traditional large mass burn incinerators in terms of visual intrusion, noise, traffic and emissions could be addressed through the introduction of smaller modular systems designed to meet the latest environmental standards and the needs of local communities.

2.42 The three Councils would need to be satisfied that proposed incineration facilities would make an appropriate contribution to the diversion of waste away from landfill in the Plan Area and that their location accords as far as possible with the "proximity principle".

2.43 In accordance with the NWS, it is considered that the following policy is appropriate in the event of incineration facilities being proposed in the Plan Area.

2.44 Landfill is the preferred final disposal option contained in the Management Plan. The majority of waste disposed of in the Plan Area goes to landfill sites to fill void spaces that result from mineral extraction or construction activities. Landfill is seen in the Plan Area as an important method of restoring mineral workings back to a beneficial use. These sites can be returned to a range of uses such as agriculture, leisure or woodland.

2.45 Two major issues associated with landfill sites, which accommodate biodegradable waste, are landfill gas and leachate. Techniques for dealing with them have steadily improved. Landfill gas and leachate result from the degradation of organic waste in the landfill. Leachate can pollute water resources and landfill gas is explosive in certain concentrations and can be a hazard. These problems are most apparent in older landfill sites that, unlike more modern sites, have not been engineered with a liner system that controls landfill gas and leachate. Landfill gas and leachate can be controlled through the use of extraction and treatment systems. Landfill gas can be utilised to provide an important means of energy recovery. Other issues associated with landfilling include noise, traffic, odour, litter, vermin, gulls, visual impact and dust. These issues are regulated through appropriate planning and waste management licence conditions.

2.46 It is preferable for suitable landfill sites to be located relatively close to waste arisings in accordance with the "proximity principle" of minimising the distance over which waste is transported prior to disposal. The need for and location of additional sites also need to take account of the principle of regional self-sufficiency in waste disposal. All the waste disposal policies are contained in Chapter 4 of the Plan, which relates to the provision for future waste disposal. Policies WLP 15, 16, 17 and 18 deal with the identification of new and extensions to existing waste disposal sites for household, industrial, commercial and construction and demolition wastes within the Plan Area.

2.47 A paper in "The Lancet" in August 1998 by Helen Dolk et al heightened public concern about the potential adverse health effects of living near a landfill site. The Study, which was Europe-wide, did not establish cause and effect but concluded that there was a need for further research. Given the public concern which exists in some areas about potential health risks of landfill sites, the Government commissioned the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (S.A.H.S.U.) at Imperial College, London, to carry out a national study of adverse health effects around landfill sites. The study was extensive, and examined over 9,500 landfill sites that were in operation between 1982 and 1997. The results of the study were published in August 2001, and although these were inconclusive in establishing a link between landfills and potential health effects, the need for further work was recognised. Similar comments were made by the Government’s expert advisory Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals and Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. The study is part of an ongoing Government funded research programme to investigate the possible impact of landfill sites on human health, for which further work is programmed. The Department of Health has not recommended, on the basis of current evidence, that there is a need to prohibit the development of new, licensed landfill sites.

2.48 Government advice as contained in PPG23 and PPG10 is that the planning system should focus on whether the development itself is an acceptable use of the land rather than the control of the processes or substances themselves. The latter is a matter for those bodies with the relevant expertise and the statutory responsibility for that control. In this instance, the relevant pollution control authorities are the District Environmental Health Authority and the Environment Agency.