The House of Lords will tomorrow (3 December) explore how waste can be made into new products, and whether government policies currently ‘support this emerging market’.
As part of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry into the economic benefit of waste,‘big business and global environmental experts’ will give evidence on the current and future products that can be made from waste.
Two evidence sessions will explore what markets exist for products made from waste (such as perfume and plastic made from organic waste), and what the environmental implications are of this.
Session details
The first session, starting at 10.10am, will seeColin Tattam from the Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network (CI-KTN), Peter Williams, CEO of biofuel company INEOS Bio, and Mike Goosey, former Manager of Biofuels R&D at Shell, give evidence on examples of current and ‘in-the-pipeline products’, and how they might be marketed.
Specifically, the session will cover:
- which products will be on the market in five, 10 and 20 years’ time;
- what the current and future market value is of products made from waste;
- how profit margins might be improved;
- whether all stages of research and development are ‘adequately funded’; and
- whether incentives are ‘constructive or detrimental’ to a healthy market.
The second session, starting an hour later, will focus on the environmental impact from the marketing and production of these products.
For this part, Dr Michael Warhurst from Friends of the Earth, Professor Richard Murphy from the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey, and Dr Jim Philp from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will give evidence.
The areas of questioning will include:
- what the environmental benefits are of using biowaste and waste gas as a feedstock;
- whether there are any other environmental problems caused by alternative uses of biowaste and waste gas; and
- whether a complete ban on sending biowaste to landfill is needed.
Inquiry background
According to the committee, members wanted to carry out an investigation into the issue of waste and the bioeconomy because it:
- wanted to explore in greater detail the ability of current technology in the UK to exploit waste’s potential to create goods, fuels and chemicals;
- wanted to establish if waste could contribute to a burgeoning ‘green economy’ in the UK;
- wanted to investigate the potential for the UK to be competitive within Europe and internationally; and
- felt it was timely to examine whether the government had a ‘joined-up strategic approach’ to funding, policy and regulation in this area.
The scope of this inquiry is largely limited to organic waste and waste gases produced by agriculture, industry and households. It follows on from an evidence session last month that looked at how the European Union is preventing food waste ahead of its 2020 target to reduce food waste by 50 per cent.
The committee expects to publish a report on itsfindings in ‘early 2014’.
Read more about the House of Lords inquiry into the economic benefits of waste.
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