Part A - Business Case

Providing data on the typical composition of UK household waste, this subsection:

• Pinpoints garden waste, kitchen waste, soil, packaging and non-packaging paper as the main components (accounting for around 75% of the total).
• Underlines that hazardous wastes such as paint and cleaning products are also important targets for waste prevention.

This subsection highlights specific activities that can contribute significantly to waste prevention:

• Waste-aware shopping.
• Reducing unwanted mail/newspapers.
• Home and community composting.
• Re-use in the home and community.
• Replacing goods with services.

It indicates the scale of waste reduction that each activity could deliver and emphasises the scope to create jobs/training opportunities for disadvantaged groups (eg long-term unemployed).

This subsection shows that waste prevention could enable a local authority serving 250,000 households to:

• Reduce waste arisings by up to 7.5% or 22,500 tonnes a year.
• Save up to £1.8 million a year in waste collection, handling and disposal costs.

Experience from the UK and overseas indicates that bigger reductions could be feasible in some situations.

This subsection emphasises waste prevention’s cost-effectiveness, which dovetails with its environmental and social benefits to make it an attractive course of action:

• A 3%-7.5% cut in all collected waste should be achievable by local authorities and community groups working together.
• This will result in a typical net annual benefit of between £300,000 and £1.3 million (not including any extra revenue generated).
• Typical payback on investment will be achieved in 7-30 months.