Veolia chief executive Estelle Brachlianoff has warned that a lack of clear policy from ministers is reducing the amount of cash it is willing to spend on UK waste infrastructure.
She told the Sunday Times that investment was being held back by a lack of implementation of the Resources & Waste Strategy.
Key strands of this flagship 2018 document have been kicked into the long grass by ministers. Extended producer responsibility was last summer delayed until late 2025 while a ‘simpler recycling’ programme has been mooted ahead of the promised consistency of collections.
A National Audit Office report last year warned that “effective delivery plans” to achieve the government’s long-term waste-management ambitions “do not yet exist”.
The spending watchdog added: “This is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to prepare for [the] investment and regulatory changes that will be required.”
Now Brachlianoff has confirmed that this is the case.
“We have a few projects which are waiting to be invested in when we have a clear view of the resource strategy,” she said.
“We will still invest, but we could do more. Consistency of approach is the key to having private investors invest.”
Brachlianoff became chief executive of Veolia in 2022 after 17 years at the business, which recovered 61 million tonnes of waste in the year she took the top job.
