More Jobs, Less Carbon: Why We Need Landfill Bans

More jobs, less carbon: why we need landfill bans The UK puts at least £3.8 billion of resources in landfill each year. Keeping these resources out of landfill would support skilled jobs and cut the UK's carbon emissions. Three actions would secure more Green Alliance Notes and references skilled jobs and value: 36 Buckingham Palace Road London, SW1WORE . Landfill bans – to prevent products and materials from being wasted Value of wood, food, textiles, a nd plastics, from Green Alliance, 2013, Why we need land fill bans, of £2.5 billion plusf13 billion in waste electronics from WRAP, 2012, Electrical product ma terial composition. Based on calculatio ns froma wide ra nge of re cycling, remanufacturing, and reusejobsestimates. Full de tails are available from www.green-alliance.org.uk/morejobs 020 7233 7433 [email protected] www.green-alliance.org.uk 1 green ālliance... • Better co llection systems – to keep the quality of materials up sources blog:greenallianceblog.org.uk twitter: @GreenAllianceUK Remaking old products requires skilled labour for disassembly, fault finding and repair. High quality recycling is a sophisticated industrial process, requiring engineering and technical skills. Committee on Climate Change, 2013, Meeting carbon budgets. * Examples listed are from jobs websites listing vacancies in existing UK recyclers, remanufacturers, and reprocessors at the time of publication. s The 4th carbon budget covers a fiveyear period, but landfill emissions are stated per year. To make this comparison, the emissions savingsfrom ending landfilling were applied to each year of the five year budget period and compared to the reduction needed to move from the third budget period to the fourth budget period. • New infrastructure – to The Green Alliance Trustis a registered charity 1045395 and company limited by guarantee (England & Wa les) 303 7633, registe red at the above address reprocess and remanufacture Landfill bans help stimulate better collection systems and economies of scale, underpinning infrastructure investment. Scotland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and several US states have already introduced them. It is time the Author Dustin Benton, head of resources [email protected] Selling the products created through reuse, remanufacturing and recycling generates profit, justifying the labour required to process them. In contrast, lan dfill just has a labour cost. Landfill is easy, but it makes no sense economically. Acknowledgements Thanks to Christopher Hope for research assistance. Supported by John Ellerman Foundation UK did too. O Green Alliance, February 2014 Designed by Howdy Printed by Park Lane Press ce0e0 @reative Avoiding land fill creates jobs and cuts carbon How many UK jobs could be created by keeping five materials out of landfill Stopping these products going to landfill could mean: Reuse, remanufacturing and recycling create new, valuable prod ucts. Selling these generates profit which supports skilled jobs Wood 3,200 Textiles 6,600 Electronics 9,500 Food 12,100 Plastics 16,100 Reuse and remanufacture High value is retained by keeping the original design = and function of products 8-20 jobs (per thousand tonnes of products) 47,500 jobs, 10% and getting Recycle Moderate value is retained by recapturing raw materials = to make new products 5-10 jobs (per thousand tonnes of material) of the way to meeting the 4th Carbon Budget What kind of jobs are they?" Landfilling wastes valuable products and materials... .and creates carbon emissions Anaerobic digestion Plant manager. £40-6ok Skills: SCADA training, HNC engineering III Panelboard manufacturing CAD technician. £13-29k Skills: Computer aided design, 3D modelling Electronics remanufacturing Electrical engineer. £20-4ok Skills: Electrical engineering, programming emissions from 14.1 MtCO2e 2.7m. Landfill Value is lost when materials and products are thrown away, costing cons umers over f100 per tonne homes 0.1 jobs (per thousand tonnes of waste) Textile recycling Driver. £22k Skills: C1 driving licence Plastics manufacturing Facilities engineer. £30-4ok Skills: Mechanical and electrical engineering, equipment des ign