Waste and the countryside: sustainability and resource efficiency

The relationship between waste and the civil engineering profession has long been recognised. However, in coming years that relationship may become increasingly significant, precipitated by a mixture of European and UK Government pressures translated into a hardening price regime driven by budgetary, regulatory and fiscal instruments. The backdrop to those drivers lies in growing scientific evidence emphasising the need for significant improvements in resource efficiency within the frame-work of the UK economy. This paper addresses those trends with particular reference to the profession, the waste sector and the countryside—a geographic context which is especially important given the far-reaching review which the Government is now undertaking on the role of rural areas in general and the context of specific industries and professions within it.