Former Minister Jack Cunningham spearheads war on waste in North East

Jan 12 2010 By Tony Henderson, The Journal

A WAR on waste was declared in the region last night.

Former Labour cabinet minister Jack Cunningham is leading a new body set up in a bid to make the North East the least wasteful region in the country.

The North East Sustainable Resources Board is the first organisation of its type outside London.

It aims to turn the region into a national leader in maximising value from the 10.5m tonnes of waste it churns out annually, creating business opportunities and hundreds of jobs in the process.

The foundation and remit of the board has been agreed by 20 regional organisations, including councils, Newcastle and Teesside universities, companies, Government Office North East, Environment Agency, Association of North East Councils, and One North East which has awarded funding of £50,000.

They will form a stakeholder body, chaired by Hartlepool Council chief executive Paul Walker, which will feed proposals and ideas to the board.

The board, chaired by Lord Cunningham, held its first meeting at Government Office North East in Newcastle yesterday.

"There is huge momentum gathering behind the movement to extract maximum value from waste and the North East cannot afford to miss the opportunity," said Lord Cunningham.

The main target will be to set up a co-ordinated framework to improve the region’s performance in recycling and re-use and reduction of waste.

The board will also establish how waste is currently dealt with and go on to create a waste management strategy.

The drive to make better use of waste is underpinned by the realisation that raw materials are being used up too fast and this will only worsen with global population growth.

There is also the pressing need to meet tough Government targets for diverting waste away from landfill and cutting carbon emissions.

Lord Cunningham said: "We have become a throwaway society and that is a mindset which needs to change.

"I question the use of the term waste and prefer to talk about resource recycling and recovery.

"This presents exciting opportunities for the North East and there is a determination to raise our game. We will be looking at cost effective ways of reusing waste and identifying commercial opportunities, and how this can help the region’s economy.

"I would hope that over a sustained period there will be the potential for hundreds of jobs."

The board will cover household, commercial, industrial, construction, demolition and hazardous waste streams.

"The establishment of the board is a clear statement of intent from the public and private sectors that they want to work together to dramatically improve the North East’s waste management processes," said Lord Cunningham.

"The region is rich in companies fulfilling our waste processing requirements, but currently they are lacking the framework in which to coordinate activity to operate with maximum effectiveness and with a common goal in mind.

"The board fills this leadership role and we are delighted with the buy-in from high level private sector businesses. With their help and support, and the backing of the public sector, we will ensure the region develops a waste management policy that is fit for the 21st century." Secretariat support for the board will be provided by Renew, which promotes and assists the development of energy and environmental technology.

Its director, John Barton, said: "Once waste is seen as a valuable resource that can be given a second life, its economic potential and job creation opportunities are huge, and the board is going to play a key role in helping us unlock those possibilities.

"It’s very exciting to be the first region outside London to establish a sustainable resources board and hopefully it will help us steal a march on other regions wishing to make a virtue out of waste."

Page 2: North peer Jack Cunningham