"Leave no footprint, will develop state of the art recycling infrastructure capable of reprocessing both municipal and commercial waste; including opportunities for creating renewable fuels from non-recyclable waste. Investment is critical, with many banks and financial institutions now actively seeking to invest in waste"
Daniel Silverstone, Chief Executive, London Remade
London Remade launched its solution to the capital’s waste and recycling infrastructure problem at Tate Modern. Entitled Leave no footprint, it is aimed at delivering pragmatic and practical solutions to expand recycling capacity, create jobs and supply the market with materials ready to be made into new products.
Leave no footprint is aimed at diverting 2.5 million tonnes of waste from landfill, according to London Remade, and creating 1,000 new jobs, bringing £200 million of investment into the waste and recycling industry, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring regional compliance with the Landfill Directive.
London produces 18 million tonnes of waste per year. This is expected to increase to 24 million tonnes by 2020. The organization says that it is in the business of recycling and creating environmental solutions for a sustainable capital.
Partners are being sought who want to make money by building successful businesses managing London’s waste resources inside the M25.
London has historically relied on cheap landfill to the Home Counties and beyond to dispose of its waste. New legislation, increased public interest in recycling climate change issues and rising waste disposal costs demand the transition from waste to resource management.
London Remade considers that the pace of change is too slow, with many London councils likely be penalised for failing to meet their landfill diversion targets in 2010 and 2013. The Leave no Footprint prospectus suggests that the aggregate permit costs (cost of buying in landfill allowances) could amount to £30m across London by 2013.
The Organisation estimates that if public and private sector targets are met, over 14 million
tonnes a year of recyclable materials will be available in London for reprocessing. This excludes materials that arise through more efficient sorting and processing techniques.
Attention will be focused on modern technologies including anaerobic digestion, gasification, pyrolysis and a range of mechanical and biological treatments (MBT).
Level of investment
Many banks and financial institutions with experience of investing in renewable energy projects are now said to be actively seeking to invest in waste.
The development of a sustainable waste solution for London is said to require significant investment over the next 10 years, in excess of £4 billion in infrastructure alone.
£2b of the estimate is aimed at developing sufficient infrastructure to meet the diversion requirements for municipal wastes, while the balance is targeted at sustainable solutions for commercial and industrial wastes. London Remade says that opportunities will also be available for developing businesses that collect, sort, reprocess and refine recyclable materials.
Qualifying criteria
London Remade is looking for projects that will:
- develop recycling, reprocessing and residual waste
facilities
- minimise the environmental footprint and reduce CO2
emissions in managing waste
- have an individual project value between £5 and
£30 million
- supply a feedstock for renewable gases and fuels,
biomass and green energy
- be able to handle a mixture of materials, irrespective of
their origins
- make a positive contribution to municipal diversion targets
The intention is to support projects that, use either new or established technologies and processes, involve companies operating outside London or the UK, involve both small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies, demonstrate the highest possible sustainable development values and are on a design, construction and delivery basis.
Comments
Daniel Silverstone, Chief Executive, London Remade said:
“London needs to bury its landfill habit and move decisively towards a resource management economy with recycling at the very heart of a new generation of reprocessing facilities. Our solution, Leave no footprint, will develop state of the art recycling infrastructure capable of reprocessing both municipal and commercial waste; including opportunities for creating renewable fuels from non-recyclable waste. Investment is critical, with many banks and financial institutions now actively seeking to invest in waste.”
Martin Brown, Manager - Corporate Banking at Allied Irish Bank (GB), said:
"Waste and recycling infrastructure is an increasingly attractive investment proposition, underpinned by potentially strong cash flows from local authorities and many blue chip companies. We are keen to increase our exposure to this sector, which we believe will revitalise manufacturing in London, create jobs and positively contribute to the economy and most importantly to the environment. I'm delighted London Remade is promoting these investment opportunities."
Cllr Merrick Cockell, Chairman, London Council’s said:
“London is a unique city, and the pressure is on to manage our waste more effectively. London Remade has set out the ideal platform for public and private sector partners to manage our waste more effectively. Leave no footprint is a timely and effective contribution to London’s waste management challenge. It represents just the kind of fresh thinking on waste management which the London boroughs are so keen to develop. It can help boroughs achieve their landfill allowance trading scheme (LATS) targets and therefore reduce the risk of penalties – thereby delivering both for the environment and for local council taxpayers.”
Jonathon Porritt, Chair, Sustainable Development Commission commented:
“The way we manage our waste will have a major contribution to the climate change challenge. We need a radical injection of innovative technology and fresh thinking to rise to this challenge. We need to move decisively from traditional waste management processes to models which see waste as a resource to be recovered, recycled and reused. London Remade is taking a very important step in leading London towards a new era. Leave no footprint is a refreshing and welcome approach to managing London’s waste more sustainably.”
Peter Head, Director of Planning and Integrated Urbanism, ARUP said:
“Building infrastructure for a world city needs to take account of the whole environment and to optimise the use and reuse of its waste materials. This prospectus will not only transform the way the capital deals with its waste but also help grow London’s reprocessing economy.”
Further information
Further information can be found at the London Remade website or contact Jamie Blake at mailto:jamie@londonremade.com