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Tag: England

DIY waste disposal will no longer incur charge under new plans

Posted on by dishanth
DIY waste disposal will no longer incur charge under new plans

Households in England and Wales will no longer have to pay to get rid of waste created by DIY activities under new plans set out by the government on Monday.

At the moment, some local authorities are allowed to charge for the removal of waste such as plasterboard, bath units and bricks, but the proposed changes outlined in a technical consultation would stop this.

The move, which is part of a fresh attempt to crack down on fly-tipping, could save consumers up to £10 per individual item, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

The government banned backdoor charges for individuals disposing of household rubbish at waste centres in 2015. However, about a third of local authorities still charge for certain types of DIY waste, applying rules to residents designed for construction waste.

The environment minister Jo Churchill said: “When it comes to fly-tipping, enough is enough. These appalling incidents cost us £392m a year and it is time to put a stop to them. I want to make sure that recycling and the correct disposal of rubbish is free, accessible and easy for householders. No one should be tempted to fly-tip or turn to waste criminals and rogue operators.”

Local authorities handled 1.13m fly-tipping incidents in 2020-21, during the Covid-19 pandemic, up 16% on the year before.

New council grants totalling £450,000 will be awarded to selected authorities to help them fund a range of projects to catch fly-tippers in action or deter them from dumping waste in the first place.

Projects include the use of covert and overt CCTV cameras at hotspot locations; educational programmes to influence behaviour change; and a “no bags on the street” policy to prevent rubbish collections outside business premises.

Buckinghamshire council also plans to use artificial intelligence at fly-tipping hotspots, such as rapid deployment cameras and automatic number-plate recognition. These tools link the vehicles of fly-tipping suspects to the disposed-of items in real time, allowing investigating officers to track down culprits quickly.

The other councils set to receive the grant are Durham, Newham, Eastleigh Borough, Stevenage, Winchester, Dover, Thanet, Telford and Wrekin, and Basingstoke and Deane.

The government is also considering measures to make manufacturers of the most-dumped items – such as furniture and mattresses – responsible for the costs of disposing of waste created by their products.

Jacob Hayler, the executive director of the Environmental Services Association (ESA), said he was pleased by the range of measures announced by the government to deter “this deeply antisocial, criminal behaviour”.

He said: “In addition to helping individuals recycle their household waste materials at HWRCs [household waste and recycling centres], of particular importance is stopping this material from falling into the hands of organised waste criminals, leading to larger-scale fly-tipping, which is why the ESA also strongly supports digital waste-tracking and reform of the licensing regime for carriers, brokers and dealers of waste material.”

Digital waste-tracking involves those handling rubbish recording information from the point the waste is produced to the stage it is disposed of, recycled or reused. It is hoped this will make it easier for regulators to detect illegal waste activity.

Marcus Gover, the chief executive of the sustainability charity Wrap, said: “Minimising waste is central to this, and the introductions of grants to reduce fly-tipping across England and Wales are necessary to help prevent the continual environmental cost of this illegal activity.”

 

 

Source The Guardian

Environment to benefit from ‘biggest farming shake-up in 50 years’

Posted on by dishanth
Environment to benefit from ‘biggest farming shake-up in 50 years’

Wildlife, nature and the climate will benefit from the biggest shake-up in farming policy in England for 50 years, according to government plans.

The £1.6bn subsidy farmers receive every year for simply owning or renting land will be phased out by 2028, with the funds used instead to pay them to restore wild habitats, create new woodlands, boost soils and cut pesticide use.

The wealthiest farmers – those receiving annual payments over £150,000 a year – will face the sharpest cuts, starting with 25% in 2021. Those receiving less than £30,000 will see a 5% cut next year.

Some of the biggest recipients of the existing scheme have been the Duke of Westminster, the inventor Sir James Dyson, racehorse owner Prince Khalid bin Abdullah al Saud and the Queen.

Farmers will also get grants to improve productivity and animal welfare, including new robotic equipment. The goal of the plan is that farmers will – within seven years – be producing healthy and profitable food in a sustainable way and without subsidies.

The environment secretary, George Eustice, acknowledged the damage done to the environment by industrial farming since the 1960s and said the new plans would deliver for nature and help fight the climate crisis. Farming occupies 70% of England, is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss and produces significant greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution.

The radical changes in agricultural policy are possible due to the UK leaving the EU, whose common agricultural policy is widely regarded as a disaster for nature and even critics of Brexit see the changes as positive.

Farming and environment groups largely welcomed the plans but said more detail was urgently required. Brexit is looming at the end of December and uncertainties remain over food tariffs and trade deals. Many groups are also concerned about the potential import of food produced to lower animal welfare and environmental standards.

“[This is] the biggest change in agricultural policy in half a century,” said Eustice. “It makes no sense to subsidise land ownership and tenure where the largest subsidy payments often go to the wealthiest landowners.

“Over the last century, much of our wildlife-rich habitat has been lost, and many species are in long-term decline.

“I know many farmers feel this loss keenly and are taking measures to reverse this decline. But we cannot deny that the intensification of agriculture since the 1960s has taken its toll. Our plans for future farming must [also] tackle climate change – one of the most urgent challenges facing the world.”

The total of £2.4bn a year currently paid to farmers will remain the same until 2025, as promised in the Conservative manifesto. Currently, two-thirds of this is paid solely for owning land, but the proportion will fall to one-third by 2025 and zero by 2028. Funds for environmental action will rise from a quarter of the total to more than half by 2025, with the remaining funds used to increase productivity.

The new green payments will be trialled with 5,000 farmers before a full launch in 2024. But the level of payments for work such as natural flood defences and restoring peatlands and saltmarshes has not yet been set. Nor has the likely cut in carbon emissions been quantified.

The president of the National Farmers’ Union, Minette Batters, said: “Farming is changing and we look forward to working with ministers and officials to co-create the new schemes.”

But she added: “Expecting farmers to run viable, high-cost farm businesses, continue to produce food and increase their environmental delivery, while phasing out existing support and without a complete replacement scheme for almost three years is high risk and a very big ask.”

The cuts are expected to reduce the income of livestock farmers, for example, by 60% to 80% by 2024, Batters said.

Kate Norgrove, of the WWF, said: “Our farmers have the potential to be frontline heroes in the climate and nature emergency, and this roadmap starts us on the right path. It must see increased investment in nature as a way to tackle climate change.”

Tom Lancaster, principal policy officer for agriculture at the RSPB, said: “This is a make or break moment for the government’s farming reforms, which are so important to both the future of farming and recovery of nature in England. [This plan] provides some welcome clarity, but faster progress is now needed over the coming months.”

But Craig Bennett, CEO of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “We are deeply worried that the pilot [environment] schemes simply cannot deliver the promise that nature will be in a better state. Four years on from the EU referendum, we still lack the detail and clarity on how farm funding will benefit the public.”

Other measures in the government plan include funding improvements in how farmers manage animal manure – slurry is a major polluter of both water and air – and a scheme where farmers seeking to leave the sector can cash out all the subsidies payments they are due up to 2028 in 2022, part of efforts to help new farmers enter the sector.

The government said it would be cutting “red tape” for farmers, with warning letters replacing automatic fines for minor issues and more targeted – though not fewer – inspections.

In July, the government said rules about growing diverse crops, fallow land and hedges would be abolished in 2021, claiming they had little environmental benefit. Farming policy is a devolved matter and other UK nations have yet to bring forward firm new plans.

 

 

Source The Guardian

Boris Johnson pledges to protect 30% of UK land as world leaders sign commitment to act on climate crisis

Posted on by dishanth
Boris Johnson pledges to protect 30% of UK land as world leaders sign commitment to act on climate crisis

Boris Johnson will pledge to protect 30 per cent of the UK’s land by 2030, which will see an additional 400,000 hectares of land in England protected to support the recovery of nature.

The prime minister will make the pledge during a virtual United Nations event on Monday, where he is set to warn that countries must act to reverse the loss of biodiversity.

He will sign the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature at the event, alongside other world leaders including Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern, who are among 64 leaders from five continents warning that humanity is in a state of emergency due to the climate crisis.

The 10-point pledge aims to counteract the damage done to systems that underpin human health and wellbeing.

Currently, 26 per cent of land in England comprises of national parks, areas of outstanding beauty and other protected areas. Mr Johnson’s commitment will see an additional four per cent being protected, equivalent to the size of the Lake District and South Downs national parks combined.

Commitments outlined in the pledge include a renewed effort to reduce deforestation, stop unsustainable fishing practices, eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies and begin he transition to sustainable food production systems and circular economy over the next 10 years.

The pledge has been described as a “turning point” by which future generations will judge world leaders’ willingness to take action on the climate crisis.

Mr Johnson will say during the virtual event: “We must turn these words into action and use them to build momentum, to agree ambitious goals and binding targets.

“We must act now, right now. We cannot afford to dither and delay because biodiversity loss is happening today and it is happening at a frightening rate.

“Left unchecked, the consequences will be catastrophic for us all. Extinction is forever – so our action must be immediate.”

Environmental groups welcomed the commitment, but called on the UK government to invest in existing protected sites and put the new pledge into law.

Dr Richard Benwell, chief executive of The Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “Just eight per cent of England is currently protected for wildlife, so designating 30 per cent of land to restore nature would be a tremendous step forward…

“Of course, designation alone isn’t a guarantee of change. As with marine protection and existing terrestrial protected sites, strong management and investment are also needed.”

WWF-UK chief executive Tanya Steele said the announcement must be “backed up by urgent ambition”, calling for “strong legislation to avoid damaging trade deals and to stop the food we eat from destroying the environment”.

“Only then can we meet our climate targets, put nature on the path to recovery and set our sights on global leadership at Cop26,” she added.

Earlier this month, the UN announced that the world had failed to meet a single target to stop the destruction of nature. The WWF and the Zoological Society of London also released damning reports and studies in recent weeks, revealing the global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68 per cent on average between 1970 and 2016.

 

 

By Kate Ng

Source: Independent

Government plots 2,500 rapid EV chargers across England by 2030

Posted on by dishanth
Government plots 2,500 rapid EV chargers across England by 2030

The government has unveiled its vision for a major rollout of high-powered, rapid-chargers for electric vehicles over the next 15 years, confirming a goal to deliver a network of 2,500 raid charge points across England’s motorways and A-roads by 2030 to meet growing demand ahead of its proposed ban on fossil fuel car sales.

Setting out details yesterday for its Rapid Charging Fund – part of a broader £500m EV charging commitment in the recent Budget – the Department for Transport (DfT) said its aim was to “ensure there is a rapid-charging network ready to meet long-term consumer demand for EV chargepoints ahead of need”.

England at present has more than 800 open-access 50kW EV chargers on motorways and A-roads, with an average of two at each motorway service station, meaning drivers are no more than 25 miles away from being able to charge up their electric cars.

But as demand for EVs accelerates, the government is aiming to increase EV infrastructure further in order to meet demand, targeting at least six high powered, open-access rapid charge points at motorway service stations by 2023, with as many as 10 to 12 at some larger stations, it said yesterday.

These 150-350kW-capable rapid chargers will be able to power up an EV three times faster than most chargepoints currently in place, it explained, delivering 120-145 miles of driving range for a typical battery powered car in just 15 minutes.

Then, by 2030, it expects to have built an “extensive” rapid charging network across England, targeting at least 2,500 points by 2030, rising to around 6,000 by 2035, by which time the government has said it wants to end sales of new petrol and diesel cars.

In order to support the rollout, funding will be available to cover a portion of costs at strategic sites across England’s road network where upgrading connections to meet future demand for high-powered charge points “is prohibitively expensive and uncommercial”, the government said. Further details on how the funding will be delivered are expected to be confirmed “in due course”.

Energy network firms, renewable power providers, and EV charging operators welcomed the announcement. Dr Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the REA, said the inclusion of specific targets for the EV charging network were an encouraging sign of commitment from the government.

“This is an important moment for the UK’s electric vehicle sector, one which should give confidence to investors, fleets, and individual drivers alike,” she said. “Rapid charging is a crucial part of the overall network that the industry is building, and complements the slower chargers currently being installed en-mass on-street, in businesses, and in homes across the country. Ensuring consumer choice in where, how, and with whom drivers charge is a key part of this major technology change.”

In addition, Randolph Brazier, head of innovation and development at the Energy Networks Association (ENA), said the trade body’s members were already “working with motorway service areas to come up with whole system to solutions that work for customers”.

In related news, while the government is consulting on plans to phase out fossil fuel car sales by 2035 or sooner if feasible, there are signs the current Covid-19 lockdown could potentially accelerate the shift away from private car use in some areas.

The government’s instruction that people who cannot work from home should return to work and avoid public transport if at all possible has fuelled fears of a spike in car use.

But it emerged yesterday that a number of local authorities are now considering significant crackdowns on traffic in urban centres. The City of London Corporation is planning to ban cars on the busiest roads of the capital’s financial district as the coronavirus lockdown is eased in order to provide more space for workers to keep a good distance from each other. And, if the plans are successful in keeping traffic down, the authority is to consider making the road closures permanent in order to improve air quality, documents seen by the Financial Times suggest.

Similar plans are being drawn up in York, which could result in it becoming the country’s first zero emission city centre after the lockdown is lifted, with the council seeking government support for a project to restrict access to EVs and bikes, The Times reported yesterday.

The latest developments follow the launch of Octopus Energy Group’s new roaming EV charging service, in a bid to streamline and simplify how battery car drivers pay for their car charging at home, on the street, or on the highway.

Dubbed the Electric Juice Network, the service enables EV drivers to pay with their Octopus account across multiple partner charging networks with all costs appearing on a single bill, enabling drivers to effectively roam across different EV networks with relative ease.

“Electric vehicle drivers have rightly long-complained that public charge points can be a real hassle, and it’s hard to keep track of costs, as every network runs on a unique app or card basis,” said Greg Jackson, CEO and Founder of Octopus Energy. “Octopus’s Electric Juice Network doesn’t just consolidate charging costs, it adds them to your Octopus Energy bill if you’re an existing customer. For non-Octopus customers, you can still use the service to ensure you’re able to track – and pay – in one simple way.”

Source: https://www.businessgreen.com/

Michael Holder