This week Wales and the rest of the UK are being challenged by the Conservative Government to build itself out of recession. Policies backing the construction of more homes, right to buy, ideas to set up focussed initiatives to deliver critical infrastructure projects are all now on the political agenda after the speeches at last week’s conference.

The timing for the CEW infrastructure conference in November is perfect. We need to provide Wales with a stronger, more robust and sustainable infrastructure – but we cannot just build things for the sake of it. What we provide the country has to be aligned to a long term vision and be tied to the notion of long term value.

That goes for housing too – one of the central policies for the Conservatives. In Wales house building has seen strong, sustained growth, statistics released in September showing that during April-June 2015, a total of 1,750 new homes were built – a rise of 10 per cent on the same quarter last year. But are we building the right homes and in the right manner.

We are good at building. But is it done in budget, on time and with a focus on outcomes? We need to do a lot of things better and one of them is managing our waste and recycling whilst we deliver the housing, infrastructure, schools and commercial developments Wales demands. So, it is great that Welsh Government is continuing to back CEW’s waste team and our work.

Look out for our new web site soon and information about our events and most of all, start thinking about how you can help us by sharing best practice. And why not start with what your role will be in our CEW Awards in 2016?