This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

THE amount of rubbish any new disposal facility will be expected to deal with is not up for discussion, the people’s independent panel on waste disposal was told at its first meeting.

Members of the panel, created by the Public Services Department to reassure islanders that public opinion would be taken into consideration when it goes to the States with waste disposal recommendations, had questioned the government’s figure for the amount of rubbish to be dealt with.

The House decided on a figure of 45,000 tons, growing to 70,000 over 25 years. Those figures were based on the assumption that Guernsey would hit its target of 50% recycling. It is currently at 31.2% and panel members felt the tonnage might be wrong if the 50% figure was not reached.

‘The States has given us a tonnage of 45,000,’ said Public Services chief officer Adrian Lewis. ‘[It] is not up for discussion.’

Panel member Sarah Breton questioned whether enough was being done to encourage recycling.

But Public Services minister Bill Bell, who was at the meeting with project manager Alan Richards and Mr Lewis, said the amount being recycled was growing all the time.

‘Over the last 36 months, every month has been better than the same one the previous year,’ he said.

‘But recycling in itself is not going to solve the problem.’

The Public Services representatives attended the first session to help the panel get up to speed with the issue’s recent history but they will not be present at future meetings unless invited.

Mr Lewis said the department wanted to go to the States in July with a shortlist of companies with ideas to solve the waste problem.

Landfill site Mont Cuet will reach capacity in seven years, but the panel was told that the island does not have all that time to solve the problem.

Mr Richards said: ‘We cannot afford for Mont Cuet to be full. We cannot afford to wait seven years.’

Deputy Bell said speedy decisions were essential. ‘We are running out of tip space and we must make a decision,’ he said.

Contact details for panel members will be published in the Guernsey Press after the next meeting.