INDUSTRIAL leaders and policymakers in the North-East have come together to establish a board that will influence the region’s strategy for processing waste material and reducing the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.

Tough central Government targets designed to redirect waste away from landfill sites, and the strong economic prospects associated with reusing waste for low carbon energy generation, has seen the region’s public and private sectors come together to form the North-East Sustainable Resources Board (NESRB) – the first committee of its kind outside London.

The board will play a leading role influencing waste collection and recycling practices, minimising the volume sent to landfill and managing used resources. Its wide-ranging remit will cover household, commercial and industrial, construction and demolition and hazardous wastes.

The first meeting of the newly-created NESRB was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Lord Cunningham of Felling, a former Cabinet Minister in Tony Blair’s 1997 Government.

Secretariat support for the board will be provided by Renew, an organisation set up to assist businesses looking to maximise the economic opportunities and carbon reductions achievable from the application of low carbon energy and environmental technologies.

Lord Cunningham said: “Ultimately, the establishment of the board is a clear statement of intent from the public and private sectors that they want to work together to dramatically improve the North-East’s waste management processes.

“The region is rich in companies fulfilling our waste processing requirements, but currently they are lacking the framework in which to coordinate activity to operate with maximum effectiveness and with a common goal in mind.

“The board fills precisely this leadership role and we’re delighted with the buy-in from high level private sector businesses. With their support and the backing of the public sector, we will ensure the region develops a waste management policy that is fit for the 21st Century.”

To meet Government targets, 45 per cent of household refuse and 67 per cent of municipal waste will need to be redirected away from landfill by 2015.

This, coupled with a need to reduce national greenhouse gases by ten million tonnes by 2020, predominately through low carbon energy generation, means waste recycling is set to become a key economic growth area – one which the region will be ideally placed to capitalise upon, said Lord Cunningham.

He added: “There is huge momentum gathering behind the movement to extract maximum value from waste and the North-East cannot afford to miss the opportunity.”

John Barton, director of Renew, said: “Once waste is seen as a valuable resource that can be given a second life, its economic potential and job creation opportunities are huge, and the NESRB is going to play a key role in helping us unlock those possibilities.

“It’s very exciting to be the first region outside London to establish a sustainable resources board, and hopefully it will help us steal a march on other regions wishing to make a virtue out of waste.”