Six zero waste places named across England

Six places ranging from a residential street to an entire region of England were named as England’s first “Zero Waste Places” by Environment Minister Jane Kennedy.

The Zero Waste Places will aim to go as far as possible in reducing the environmental impact of waste, whether it be at home, in the workplace or in the community.

The six places chosen to implement zero waste plans are:

• The London Borough of Brent, which will develop 20 Green Zones across the borough by September 2009, which will involve establishing Green Teams of residents and developing a GIS-based map of the borough, showing green “threads” growing through the borough to track the progress of the initiative.
• Shenley Church End in Milton Keynes will see the area of nearly 1,500 homes, two schools and a number of high street businesses aim to cut waste and litter right across the area.
• Kings Lynn in Norfolk will achieve zero waste as far as possible within the historic area of the Tuesday Market, which is home to businesses and homes, as well being a tourist hotspot and the focus of many civic events.
• The London Borough of Lewisham will run an Eco Street initiative, where around 100 properties will be targeted through a range of measures including specialist advice and support to cut waste.
• Peterborough will run a Zero Waste City Centre initiative, which will focus on Cathedral Square and the three streets leading from it (Bridge Street, Cowgate and Long Causeway), including the Queensgate Shopping Centre, encompassing more than 200 retailers and offices, including the Town Hall and council offices.
• The West Midlands will create a Zero Waste Region, focusing on businesses and organizations that produce a large quantity of waste, identifying region-wide waste infrastructure needs, improving co-operation and cutting business waste right across the region.

Environment Minister, Jane Kennedy said, “Across England, we are seeing communities come together with innovative ideas and a shared determination to tackle waste locally. These six zero waste places will test what can be done to make it easier for people and businesses to change the way they view and deal with waste.”

The Zero Waste Places have been selected as demonstrators for innovative and replicable initiatives that enable waste prevention in schools, households and businesses, and support local authorities in taking a leadership role in reducing the overall environmental impact of waste.