Local authorities in England and Wales spent £4.3bn during 2007/08 dealing with waste, new figures revealed prior to the Government outlining plans to make the UK a ‘zero waste nation'. The data, collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability and Welsh Assembly, also found that district councils now spent one-third of council tax revenue on waste. The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has revealed that a new zero waste standard for local authorities will recognise areas where waste is above the national average, and provide grants to improve performance. Communities secretary, John Denham, said: ‘If we continue to send recyclable or compostable waste to landfill, we are missing a major opportunity to generate heat and energy, and missing the chance to turn that waste into money.'
