A guide about establishing re-use as a strategic priority for local authorities and their partners. It provides a step-by-step approach for building a case for a re-use strategy and the environmental, social and economic benefits this can bring.
- Where do we want to be?
- Drivers and case for change
- Situational analysis of local opportunities
- Developing a re-use strategy
Introduction
This guide covers the initial stage of developing the strategic case for re-use activity in your local authority. It aims to provide the tools to present a strong argument to councillors and senior officers to support the development of a re-use strategy by:
- highlighting the key drivers;
- identifying how re-use partnership working can contribute to a wide range of local authority goals (social, economic and environmental), and
- flagging up some of the options and the benefits they are likely to produce.
Identify the drivers for re-use
It is important to identify the drivers that give local authorities and other organisations a reason to engage in re-use activities. These will help to make the case for the benefits of a re-use strategy, gain buy-in from stakeholders (including senior officers and council members) and help to overcome resistance from those who may have concerns.
This section looks at a range of drivers, including legislative requirements and policy drivers, and the benefits of re-use. This list should be extended to include relevant local drivers, which may be present in local authority strategies or as an economic imperative. The last part of this section discusses local policy drivers and how they can be incorporated into the case for re-use partnerships.
Situational analysis of local opportunities
Once the major drivers have been identified, it is important to review the local situation which can be divided into three steps:
- Identify the relevant local stakeholders that may be supportive.
- Identify local strategy and policy gaps.
- Review the contract situation.
Develop a re-use strategy
The next stage is to produce a draft re-use strategy. This may be as part of a wider Waste Management Strategy or Waste Prevention Plan.
This document should set out proposed aims and objectives, consider the ways in which these could be achieved and provide an overview of the potential costs and benefits. It should draw heavily on your stakeholder mapping analysis and situational analysis work. The purpose of the document at this stage is to gain the buy in of identified stakeholders and to create a catalyst for action.