New homes to include storage facilities for ‘high quality recycling’ according to new waste planning consultation

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The Department of Communities and Local Government has suggested new homes and other non-waste developments should make provision for integrated waste management.

In its consultation Updated national waste planning policy: Planning for sustainable waste management, the Government said: “All planning authorities should ensure that…new, non-waste development makes sufficient provision for waste management and promote good design to secure the integration of waste management facilities with the rest of the development including provision of waste storage facilities at residential premises to facilitate a high quality household collection service, and, in less developed areas, with the local landscape.”

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The consultation, which opened on 29 July and closes on 23 September, stresses that new waste developments must follow the waste hierarchy “placing greater emphasis on the prevention and recycling of waste”.

It also says that heat as an energy source should be encouraged “where energy from waste development is being considered” in order to encourage local authorities to consider siting, through their local plans, energy from waste facilities in areas which allow them to use heat as an alternative energy source to electricity.

Local authorities will also need to identify the tonnage of municipal and commercial and industrial waste requiring management in their area. They will also need to consider the need for additional waste management capacity of more local significance and reflect any requirement for waste management facilities identified nationally.

Councils should also work jointly with other waste planning authorities, through the statutory duty to co-operate, to provide a suitable network of facilities, where it would be economically and environmentally feasible to do so.

Local authorities will need to refuse planning permission for waste disposal facilities not in line with the local plan unless the applicants can demonstrate that the facility will not undermine the local waste planning strategy through prejudicing movement up the waste hierarchy.