Karen Potter

MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND THE CONSIDERATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN ENGLAND

Municipal waste management strategies (MWMSs) are local level policy instruments, prepared in an area wide manner all over England, aiming to achieve more sustainable waste management practices. Their focus is on different aspects of the waste management hierarchy, including waste reduction, reuse, recycling/composting and residual waste management. In this paper, a systematic review of MWMS strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), completed by February 2010 is provided. SEA report quality and the extent to which climate change mitigation is considered are evaluated. Whilst there are strengths of current practice, there is also scope for improvement, particularly regarding a more effective consideration of the waste management hierarchy. Furthermore, whilst climate change mitigation is routinely considered as an overall objective, none of the SEAs set related targets, for example regarding carbon emission reduction.