Publication of the revised English Waste Strategy has been delayed until early 2007, as the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) want to make sure it ties in with the Government's work on tackling climate change. Local environment minister Ben Bradshaw insisted that work on the strategy, which we first reported back in the March Monthly Bulletin, "Is going very well". He added, "With the Secretary of State pointing out in his letter to the Prime Minister that work on waste is one of his five strategic priorities, we need to be even more radical with the growing recognition that we are absolutely certain that what is in the strategy complements our work on climate change."
With regard to recycling, Mr Bradshaw indicated that higher targets might be a strong possibility, which may in turn be more material focused. Aluminium and plastics are two materials that could be targeted by the new strategy, and current work is concentrating on the main materials with life-cycle analysis.
It has been five years since the Government set out their 20 year waste strategy in Waste Strategy 2000, and the aim of this revision is to further reduce the impacts of waste management on the environment, while developing the economic benefit of using waste as a resource and meeting European obligations.
