'Give Householders Annual Energy Discounts to Help Overcome Concerns Over Hundreds of Planned Recycling Plants'

LONDON, February 24, 2010 - Residents should be offered annual discounts on their energy and utility
bills in return for accepting new local waste and recycling facilities,
according to a radical new cross-party report from MPs and Peers released
today.

The call is part of a package of measures proposed by the all-party
Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group report to overcome
NIMBYISM and help tackle the backlog of planning approvals across the
country, which has slowed down the opening of new, much needed waste
processing facilities.

Because the Government has pledged to meet EU targets to reduce the
amount of waste sent to landfill by 2020 to just 35% of 1995 levels,
according to the Government's own estimates that means that we will need to
build up to 500 new waste management plants across the country. The estimated
cost over the next decade will be between GBP9 and GBP11 billion.

The report identifies a widespread 'lack of innovation' around previous
attempts to engage communities over the issue, in contrast to much of Europe
where residents are used to receiving cheaper energy as a result of the
construction of new waste facilities.

The proposal for energy discounts could mean a welcome annual discount
for many householders on their utility bills and the possibility that, for
the first time, local authorities could be allowed to run sizeable Energy
Service Companies to distribute locally produced energy at a reduced cost to
residents.

Other proposals in the report, endorsed by members from all three main
political parties, include:-

    - Local shareholding schemes - residents to be offered shares and receive
      dividends in waste plants. Local authorities should be encouraged to
      assist in the development of community investment groups.
    - Community funds to be created that invest some of the profits from
      local plants to pay for community improvement projects and local public
      services such as improved transport for the elderly.
    - Plans for district heating networks to use heat generated from energy
      from waste plants and supply low-cost heating to local communities
    - Better design and look of new facilities to make them more appealing
      additions to local communities and built environment. The report looked
      at one innovative new facility near the heart of Paris that could
      provide a model for new projects here.

Labour MP, Dr Alan Whitehead, one of the reports' co-signatories said:

'The UK has already committed to reducing the amount waste we send to
landfill but as yet we still need to work out how to achieve this goal. We
know more waste and recycling plants are needed and we know these are vital
in helping us to reduce the amount of waste we bury in landfill sites. But we
also know that local residents still need to be convinced of having one sited
in their neighbourhood.

Our local communities need to feel empowered and part of the
decision-making process in developing these facilities and experience real
benefits, either through energy discounts or other measures such as better
architectural design.

Local communities and residents throughout the country hold the key to
meeting landfill reduction targets and we have to work harder to include them
in the planning process, to resolve local opposition and reward communities
that host new facilities.'

The report has been sponsored by SITA UK.

Notes for Editors

About the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group (APSRG)

The Associate Parliamentary Resource Group is the leading cross-party
forum informing the debate between parliamentarians, business leaders and the
sustainable resource community. Policy Connect provides the groups
secretariat.

Policy Connect is an entirely non-profit organisation dedicated to
building bridges between Parliament, industry and the public sector to
benefit better, more informed and smarter policy.

About SITA UK

SITA UK is a recycling and resource management company.

For embargoed copies of the report, case studies and interview opportunities, contact: Daniel Golding, Communications Manager, Policy Connect, +44(0)20-7202-8587, daniel.golding at policyconnect.org.uk