Welcome to Warwickshire County Council

Waste and Climate Change
All waste management activities result in the emission of some greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide and methane). Rising levels of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere have the potential to cause changes in our climate. Better management of our waste can help to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. To find out how Warwickshire County Council and the five districts are improving waste management practices visit the Warwickshire Waste Partnership webpages.
Reduce and Reuse Waste reduction and reuse can lower the green greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste management activities, by preventing products from entering the waste stream.
Recycle Once a product has been used, it has the potential to be recycled into something new. While manufacturing products from recycled inputs still requires some energy, the energy used to extract new raw materials can be saved.
	Composting The composting of organic materials such as food scraps and garden waste does release some carbon dioxide. However, most of the carbon contained in the organic materials is stored within the compost and therefore not released into the atmosphere.
Energy from Waste Some of the energy released during combustion can be harnessed and used to power other processes. This results in offset greenhouse gas emissions from avoided fossil fuel use.
	Landfill The landfilling of waste results in the release of methane from the anaerobic decomposition of organic materials. Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is more potent than carbon dioxide. The EC Landfill Directive imposes targets to limit the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfill. Warwickshire County Council is working hard to meet these targets.
To find out how Warwickshire County Council is tackling climate change locally visit the Warwickshire Climate Change Partnership webpage. For more general information on climate change and its causes visit the climate challenge website.
"Waste prevention, reuse and recycling are real ways to help address climate change"