GMWDA Vision
Our aim is Zero Waste
The Authority is going to deliver at least 50% recycling and 75% diversion from landfill by 2015, through its existing contractual guarantee with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester). We are committing through this new vision to do even better and move as close as possible having no need to landfill.
This was defined by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman MP, as “We are not talking about an economy where no waste is produced. We are talking about a society where, overnight, everyone will become a green saint. I, for one, know I’m very far from achieving that hallowed state. What we are talking about is a society where resources are fully valued – financially and environmentally – throughout the economy. Where one person’s waste is another’s resource. Where nothing is actually “waste”. And where, over time, we get as close as we possibly can to zero landfill. To get there, I want to see the creation of a new type of public consciousness about waste. Where consumers make deliberate decisions about preventing waste in the first place; where they buy only what they need and recycle or re-use what’s left.”
The Authority has set 4 key objectives:
- Deliver the Municipal Waste Management Strategy (MWMS)
- Develop and deliver an overarching environmental strategy, which brings together our work on sustainability, climate change and minimising adverse environmental impact;
- Influence the wider debate on sub regional waste by using the opportunities presented by the recently established City Region, and sign posted changes to the definition and subsequent impact for the required treatment of municipality waste; and
- Influence the national, and international waste agendas, by showcasing the work of the Authority
These are considered further in the Corporate Plan 2011 – 2014
