The UK Government’s plan to create 400,000 jobs for the clean energy sector is a ‘missed opportunity’ for the resource and waste industry.
Dr Adam Read MBE, Chair of CIWM’s Skills for the Future Expert Group, said the Clean Energy Jobs Plan will offer the sector ‘spun-off benefits’ but also seems like a ‘missed opportunity’.
“The Clean Energy Jobs Plan effectively ignores the ‘circularity’ part of the green economy and the waste and recycling sector’s role as enablers for that circularity,” Adam Read said.
“The recent Skills Strategy launched by Energy and Utility Skills, and endorsed by CIWM, clearly identifies the growth potential of the resources and waste sector.”
“There remain clear opportunities for Skills England and government to incentivise and enable skills development, including apprenticeship reform, in our sector.”
The Energy Secretary announced plans to double the number of people employed in clean industries to 860,000 by 2030, through tailored training schemes for former fossil fuel workers, young people, the unemployed, veterans, and ex-offenders.
The plan identifies 31 priority occupations, such as plumbers, electricians, and welders, as those that will be in particularly high demand. However, jobs in the resource and waste sector have not been included on the priority list.
Among the plans is funding for five new clean energy Technical Excellence Colleges to train the next generation of workers. The government has also committed to investing £2.5 million in skills pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire.
Katie Cockburn, Senior Director of Policy & Education at CIWM, said CIWM welcomes the Clean Energy Jobs Plan and its ambition to support critical skills development.
“Although our sector is not designated as a ‘priority’ under the Jobs Plan, our members know their vital role and that we’ll continue to contribute to the UK’s ambitions for clean energy, carbon reduction and a circular economy.”
“The resources and waste sector already makes a strong contribution to clean energy generation, with good renewable power being generated from green waste and biogenic waste at anaerobic digestion and energy recovery facilities across the UK.”
As the UK transitions to a resource-efficient and zero-waste economy, Cockburn said there are ‘clear opportunities’ for the resources and waste sector’s contribution to clean energy to grow, and for ‘thousands of new and upskilled jobs to deliver on this’.
The government’s plans were broadly backed by trade unions, including Unite and GMB.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the Energy Secretary’s announcement as ‘initial steps’, saying: “Well-paid, secure work must be at the heart of any green transition.”
Commenting on the plan, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Communities have long been calling out for a new generation of good industrial jobs. The clean energy jobs boom can answer that call – and today we publish a landmark national plan to make it happen.”
“Our plans will help create an economy in which there is no need to leave your hometown just to find a decent job.”