Surveying Waste Arisings and Developing Waste Policy: Problems and Pitfalls
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2008.00424.x |
| Author | Robert Lee,Lori Frater |
| Published date | 01 June 2008 |
Surveying Waste Arisings and Developing Waste Policy:
Problems and Pitfalls
Lori Frater and Robert Lee
INTRODUCTION
The pressure to produce research relevant to the policy needs of government
and other agencies is greater than ever, as is engagement with users of the
research. At times it can be difficult, especially in an area like environmental
law and policy, to draw a line between research and consultancy. The
researcher may wish to undertake research and report findings from it for
very different purposes from those funding the research or intending to draw
on it to inform policy development. There is no reason in principle why this
should prove an obstacle to research, but in this paper we warn that clarity in
the objectives of all parties at the outset is fundamental if difficulties are to
be avoided in the later use of data. This clarity should extend not only to the
purposes of the research but also to wider questions of methodology.
Moreover, researchers need to recognize that at some point they may
relinquish control of the data, which may prove problematic if later owners
of this data use it or draw from it in a manner different from that adopted by
the researchers themselves. We illustrate these points by recounting
experiences taken from a study of waste generation and disposal of
commercial and industrial waste.
BACKGROUND
When a tax on the land-filling of waste was introduced in the 1996 Budget, a
tax credit scheme was introduced to allow operators of landfill sites to
contribute money to enrolled Environmental Bodies to carry out projects that
met environmental objectives contained in the Landfill Tax Regulations.
1
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ß2008 The Author. Issue Compilation ß2008 Cardiff University Law School. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
We are grateful for the funders, Biffaward and the Environment Agency for Wales, for
the support for the research work to which this analysis relates and to our colleagues in
BRASS for their assistance with the initial study.
1 Landfill Tax Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996 No. 1527) by virtue of the powers in ss.
51(1) and 53(1) Finance Act 1996.
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