Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Public consultation is coming soon...

Local people will be asked to comment on plans to adopt cleaner and cheaper ways of disposing of waste, after council leaders approved proposals last month.

Cabinet agreed the Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document. The document outlines proposed sites for waste management and marks a shift from a reliance on using landfill sites to dispose of waste.

Communities will be able to give their opinions on the document and help shape a decision, which due to the ever-increasing cost of sending waste to landfill, the council must make.

The plan, which puts forward 43 sites for consideration, will go to public consultation for eight weeks from June. The council will publicise details of how people can comment on the plans.

The proposed sites are predominantly located on existing waste sites, industrial or brownfield land. Examples of waste management facilities include recycling centres, waste transfer facilities, treatment centres and composting facilities. Today’s state-of-the-art waste management operations offer clean, highly-regulated, facilities where waste is treated as a resource rather than a by-product for disposal.

One of the aims behind the plan is to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill in Wiltshire, resulting in a reduction in the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on landfill tax. The council is currently charged £48 per tonne of waste it sends to landfill but this is set to rise dramatically over the coming years. Finding alternatives to landfill will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (such as methane) and improve Wiltshire’s overall carbon footprint.

Cabinet member for economic development and planning, John Brady said: 'This plan will help the communities and businesses of Wiltshire and Swindon to drive forward a long-term, sustainable strategy for managing waste more responsibly.'

Cabinet member with responsibility for waste, Toby Sturgis, added: 'We must act now to make sure Wiltshire has a long-term plan to effectively manage its waste. We have no option but to find sites where waste can be sustainably managed and treated. All new facilities would be heavily-regulated, modern and clean and would provide a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to landfill.'