Caroline Spelman, the new DEFRA secretary of state, has announced that the coalition Government is to review all waste policies in England immediately.

Speaking on the first day of Futuresource, a waste industry trade exhibition, Ms Spelman said that the comprehensive cross-departmental review would look at household waste, local authority services, energy from waste and business behaviour.

She said it would look at “every aspect of waste policy and waste management delivery in England” and would involve CLG, BIS and DECC and the waste industry.

Reminding delegates of CLG minister Eric Pickles’ announcement the previous week that “bin taxes” are being scrapped, Ms Spelman emphasised that the new Government wishes to use incentives rather than penalties to achieve its targets.

“We are not in the business of threatening people with penalties and fines,” she quipped.

She also stressed that business waste will be reviewed in depth, as “for too long, Government attention has been focused on domestic waste” instead. She made no mention of specific industries, although other speakers at the conference had stressed the importance of tackling construction, demolition and excavation waste.

Preliminary findings of the review will be announced in the spring, she confirmed.

http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/2010/06/15/caroline-spelman-waste/

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