February 2006
Mass Balance Report Launched at the House of Commons
CWA recently completed a radical environmental report – the Mass Balance Movement, the definitive reference for resource flows within the UK environmental economy – which was launched at the House of Commons on 28th February.
Produced on behalf of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) for their Biffaward scheme, together with Biffa Waste Services and Forum for the Future, this 116-page report examines the impact that 63 separate geographical regions and industry sectors in the UK have on the environment. The report claims that ‘resource scarcity will cause the UK economic problems and affect our quality of life, and it aims to highlight to policymakers in government the need for a national system to track resource flows through our economy.
Full Press Release
Ten years ago Biffaward recognised that a more formalised approach to tracking resource flows in the economy – inputs, process streams as well as waste outputs – was central to the development, enhancement and measurement of effective waste and environmental polices. Earlier work by Biffa (Great Britain PLC –The Environmental Balance Sheet) in 1994 set out the scale of these pollution burdens on the aquatic, atmospheric and surface media. Elsewhere, others had already formulated a more structured approach to input/output resource flow analysis, notably the Wuppertal Institute in Germany and the US Bureau of Mines.
The advent of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS) in 1996 enabled this important work to be translated into a much more substantial programme. The Biffaward Mass Balance Research programme has invested £10m and covered more than 60 project areas. In 2003 Government declared that LTCS support for this type of work would cease. No further studies can be initiated. So we have decided to release a view of the entire programme. Timing is also predicated on clear indications that the European Waste Strategy will shift from ‘end of pipe’ targets, regulations, and definitional issues, to a more holistic approach founded on life cycle thinking. This approach is founded on the concept of resource efficiency, across entire supply chain systems.
When published in their original format Biffaward reports reflected the styles, approaches and thinking of their individual progenitors, and they have benefited from that individuality. This new publication reminds us of the original concept by bringing together, in a more standardised format, the key findings, conclusions and observations of the original studies.
In musical terms, this report is the catchy melody that is part of a larger piece. All the detail of the data, references and specifics – the full symphony – can be found by recourse to the original volumes (available in e-format from www.massbalance.org). We have adopted musical analogies throughout because the management, development and integration of the many players in an orchestra to create music which is more than the sum of the parts, requires conducting quality of the first order. We hope that by presenting the range of these studies in one single volume, policymakers in government will be persuaded of the benefits of providing the UK with a national system to track resource flows through our economy.
Such an approach is a key step in delivering the means for our world to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Mozart’s birth in 2256. What will the world look like then, if we don’t take action today?