Municipal Waste Management Strategy

Our Municipal Waste Management Strategy was approved in 2003. We continue to work hard to implement the aims and objectives of the strategy.

The Strategy is available in three formats:

• The Executive Summary - an overview
• The Non-Technical Document - an easy-to-read summary

(The documents can be downloaded below. If you would like a hard copy, please contact us)

Please see the bottom of this page for an update on how the Strategy is progressing.

Foreword by Councillor Box, Leader of the Council

"I am very pleased to continue to support the Council's Municipal Waste Management Strategy for the Wakefield District. The strategy was produced in response to the Government's requirement for sustainable waste management.

The question of what we do with our rubbish concerns every one of us. We can no longer rely on disposing of rubbish to landfill, as we must meet targets in managing Wakefield's municipal waste. If present trends continue, the amount of municipal waste produced per year will increase by a third in twenty years' time.

This document sets out the strategy the Council approved and adopted on 25 November 2003, and sets the foundation of how we intend to meet the challenge of reducing rubbish, recycling more and treating the remainder in a more sustainable way.

These proposals required a significant change to the way we dealt with our rubbish. The Council has made progress in addressing some issues, but there is much more we have to do. We need to think about waste minimisation, complex separate recycling collections, composting, and new technologies to deal with the rubbish that cannot be recycled or composted.

Although the Council's role is important, our strategy will not succeed without your support. With a little effort, we can all reduce the amount of waste we produce, re-use what we can and recycle and compost more of our rubbish.

We look forward to helping you recycle more rubbish and manage the remainder in a more sustainable way. By working together we can ensure our local environments are clean, safe, healthy, accessible and pleasant whilst at the same time be proud of them."