Reducing the impact of business waste through the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme

Book excerpt: The amount of harmful business waste sent to landfill has fallen, but it is not possible to say how much of this reduction is down to the £240 million government Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme which ran from March 2005 to April 2008. The NAO is unable to conclude whether the spending was value for money because the Department had not set specific, quantified targets for the Programme and it lacked reliable information on performance. The businesses that received support from the Programme's initiatives have reported benefits in terms of both cost and environmental improvements, and there should be longer term gains. But the NAO's survey of businesses found low awareness of the services available under the Programme. There has been no evaluation of the Programme to date. Most of the reduction in landfill related to construction, excavation and demolition waste which is less harmful to the environment. Commercial and industrial waste is more likely to generate harmful greenhouse gas, but the amount sent to landfill fell by only 2.3 million tonnes (11 per cent) between 2005 and 2008. Given this rate of progress, the Department may not meet its expectation, set in 2007, of a 20 per cent reduction by 2010. The Department does not have up to date information on how much business waste there is, or how much is being recycled, which makes it difficult for it to target its activities.