The West London Waste Authority could face at least £6M worth of penalties for not meeting landfill directive targets by 2010 if a High Court injunction into the mayor of London’s control over waste is refused.
The waste authority last week asked Mr Justice Goldring to intervene and quash two of Ken Livingstone’s directions relating to procurement in December 2006 and January this year. The judicial review will decide whether Livingstone has the legal power to prevent WLWA from potentially employing a contractor that has waste incineration facilities. WLWA wants to procure tenders for a contractor that would be able to divert 20% of its biodegradable municipal waste away from the landfill each year. It has wanted to undertake this exercise since 2004, but Livingstone has prevented them from doing so since then, director Mike Nicholls said.
‘The mayor has been trying to stop us because he is concerned that one of our tenders would be a contractor that would offer a waste energy plant, and he is unenthusiastic about that.’ Because of the hold-up, it would make it very difficult for WLWA to achieve the 2010 landfill directive targets, Nicholls said. ‘The mayor has shot us all in the foot. ‘We are neutral about the technology used; what we want to do is divert waste from the landfill.’
However, a spokeswoman for the mayor said: ‘There is no reason why West London Waste Authority should be in a position where it is paying fines for landfilling its rubbish. There are ample opportunities for them to meet their permitted landfill amounts. ‘The Mayor issued a direction, as West London Waste Authority had not properly considered his municipal waste management strategy and not prepared a plan for handling their waste before they put out a tender for a new waste contract.' Mr Justice Goldring has reserved his decision. It is expected to be released in a few weeks.

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