Community acceptance of new waste management facilities - a public engagement pilot-project

我们目前的生产、消费和废物处理模式被认为是不可持续的，欧洲的废物政策和立法旨在解决这个问题。人们普遍认为，减少废物是一项关键要求，因为社会正在寻求减少温室气体的产生，并将气候变化的不利影响降至最低。为了实现这一点，我们必须采用废物分级的原则，该原则主张尽可能减少原材料的使用和产品的再利用或资源的再循环。在无法避免废物的情况下，应从废物中回收能源，并应将其视为最后的手段。《垃圾填埋场指令》(1999/31/EC)设定了严格的目标，以减少可生物降解的城市垃圾填埋量。英国已在其废物战略文件中阐述了满足垃圾填埋场指令要求的方法。实施废物战略的一个关键前提是需要对新的废物管理基础设施进行投资。将可生物降解的城市废物从垃圾填埋场转移出去需要新的设施，能够回收可回收材料并对废物进行处理，使任何残留的材料都可以用于垃圾填埋。这一要求推动了新的和改进的废物处理技术的发展，如源头分离废物的堆肥和厌氧消化，以及剩余废物的机械生物处理、气化和焚烧。然而，规划进程已被确定为发展这一急需的废物处理和废物基础设施能源的重大障碍。规划过程缓慢、成本高昂，而且被拒绝的风险很高，对投资者没有吸引力。当地对新的废物基础设施的反对是规划过程中明显问题的共同因素。这种反对通常被称为邻避主义(不是在我的后院)。常见的问题包括感官影响(外观、噪音、气味和振动)、公共健康影响、生态影响、交通和对房地产价格的影响等。这些关切中有相当一部分涉及新技术、其在当地背景下的适用性以及旨在将对人类健康和环境的风险降至最低的部件的有效性。在公众参与和交流尖端环境技术的信息以及支持这些技术的研究以应对所谓的NIMBY封锁方面，需要采取新的方法。这一拟议项目的专家伙伴正在开创与公众接触的新方式，使当地人能够从一开始就在发展中发挥作用；具体说明他们所关心的环境技术选择的信息；通过这样做，更好地了解他们参与的进程。这一新方法为拟议的公众参与伙伴关系奠定了基础。在这个项目中，我们的目标是让那些对废物管理/废物设施发展所产生的能源感兴趣和关心的人参与进来。该项目将侧重于确定、开发和交流信息，以解决人们对一种或多种环境技术的性能、有效性和整体适合性的担忧。学者和专家传播者将在9个月的时间里共同致力于一个现实生活中的项目。将对沟通活动的有效性进行评估。拟议中的项目是作为试点项目设计的。如果该项目成功，这将为随后一个更实质性、更长期的公共参与项目奠定基础。

Our current production, consumption and waste disposal patterns are considered to be unsustainable and European waste policy and legislation aims to tackle this problem. There is general agreement that reducing waste is a critical requirement as society seeks to reduce the production of greenhouse gases and to minimise the adverse impacts of climate change. To achieve this we must adopt the principles of the waste hierarchy which advocates a reduction in raw material use and the reuse of products or recycling of resources wherever possible. Where waste cannot be avoided energy should be recovered from it and disposal in landfill should be considered as a last resort. The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) sets demanding targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal landfilled. The UK has set out its approach to meeting the requirements of the Landfill Directive in its waste strategy documents. A critical prerequisite for the delivery of the waste strategy is the need for investment in new waste management infrastructure. The diversion of biodegradable municipal waste away from landfill requires new facilities that are able to recover recyclable material and to process the waste such that any residual material is acceptable for landfilling. This requirement has driven the development of new and improved waste processing technologies such as composting and anaerobic digestion for source segregated wastes and mechanical biological treatment, gasification and incineration for residual waste. The planning process has been identified as a significant barrier to the development of this much needed waste treatment and energy from waste infrastructure however. Planning processes that are slow, expensive and which carry a high risk of refusal are unattractive to investors. Local opposition to new waste infrastructure is factor common to the problems that are evident in the planning process. Such opposition is often known as the NIMBYism (not in my back yard) attitude. Common concerns include sensory impacts (appearance, noise, smell, and vibration), public health impacts, ecological impacts, traffic, and impact on property prices - amongst others. A significant number of these concerns relate to new technologies, their fitness for purpose in the local context, and the effectiveness of components designed to minimise risks to human health and the environment. New approaches are required in public engagement and communication of information on cutting edge environmental technologies and the research underpinning them to tackle the so called NIMBY blockade . The expert partners in this proposed project are pioneering new ways of engaging with the public which enable local people to play a role in the development right from the outset; to specify the information on environmental technology options that they are concerned about; and in doing so better understand the process that they are a part of. This new approach provides the basis for the proposed public engagement partnership.In this project we aim to engage with people who are interested in and concerned about a waste management / energy from waste facility development in their local area. The project will focus on identifying, developing and communicating information that addresses people's concerns regarding the performance, effectiveness and overall fitness-for purpose of one or more environmental technologies. Academics and expert communicators will work together over the course of nine months on a real-life project. The effectiveness of the communication activity will be evaluated. The proposed project is designed as a pilot. Should the project be successful this would provide the basis for a more substantive, longer term public engagement project subsequently.