Scottish Government

Title

Amount of waste sent to landfill

Associated Targets

No more than 1.32 million tonnes of waste sent to landfill by 2010

Brief Description

The indicator is aiming to monitor the reduction in the amount of Biodegradable Municipal Waste ( BMW) collected by or on behalf of local authorities that Scotland sends to landfill in order to contribute to meeting UK targets set under the EU Landfill Directive.

The indicator is in line with the Government's commitment to move towards a Zero Waste Scotland.

Strategic Objective(s) to Which Indicator Relates

GREENER.

The indicator informs progress towards a Greener Scotland by capturing the sustainability of consumption through measuring the amount of waste going to landfill. Meeting the target will involve working with local authorities as they have discretion over their waste management.

More Detailed Definitions

Definitions of Keywords

Waste as used in the indicator title and associated target is Biodegradable Municipal Waste collected by or on behalf of local authorities.

Biodegradable Municipal Waste ( BMW) is municipal waste that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as food, garden waste, paper and card.

Municipal Waste (MSW) is household and similar waste.

Municipal Waste collected by or on behalf of local authorities is all waste for which the councils make arrangements, with the exclusion of: abandoned vehicles; road maintenance waste; commercial waste that is delivered to local authority owned or run landfill sites where the local authority has no part in the collection or disposal arrangements that have led to this delivery; industrial waste collected from industrial premises and taken for disposal or treatment separately from any other waste; and construction and demolition waste that is collected and taken for disposal or treatment separately from any other waste. Bricks and rubble taken to civic amenity sites are included in municipal waste.

2010 refers to the 12 months ending March 2010.

Evidence Source

Data on the tonnage of BMW collected by or on behalf of local authorities sent to landfill is supplied to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA) quarterly by local authorities via the internet based system Waste Data Flow ( WDF). Prior to this the data was collected via the annual SEPA Local Authority Waste Arisings Survey ( LAWAS) and quarterly via the Landfill Allowance Scheme ( LAS) Return and Landfill Allowance Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2005.

Baseline and Past Trends

The baseline year is financial year 2006/2007 when the amount of BMW collected by or on behalf of local authorities sent to landfill was estimated to be 1.47 million tonnes. This data was published by SEPA in "Waste Data Digest 8: key facts and trends" http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/idoc.ashx?docid=9a8e5625-0e1e-4ac9-a216-

A times series including the most up to date data is available on Scotland Performs.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/scotPerforms/indicators/reduceLandfill

Methodology for Data Source

The amount of BMW collected by or on behalf of local authorities that is landfilled is estimated using a mass balance approach. Full details are available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/04/18110606/4

The first stage is to calculate the amount of MSW arisings collected by or on behalf of local authorities that comprises biodegradable waste. The method assumes that the percentage of municipal waste that is biodegradable is 63% and this factor is applied to total MSW arisings collected by or on behalf of local authorities.

The method then takes account of the amount of BMW collected by or on behalf of local authorities that is recycled, composted, incinerated etc in order to provide an estimate of the amount that is landfilled.

Data Ownership and Quality Assurance

The data for this indicator is collected and published by SEPA. As from November 2011, the figures will be published by SEPA as official statistics.

Publication of Data

The data is published quarterly on the SEPA website:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/waste_data_reports/landfill_allowance_scheme.aspx

This data is currently published 5 months after the end of the quarterly reporting period. Historic annual publications can also be found on the SEPA website:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/waste_data_digest.aspx

Revisions to the quarterly data are made within the same financial year.

Methodology for Recent Change Arrow on Scotland

This evaluation is based on: any difference within +/- 15 kilotonnes of last year's figure suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change. A decrease of 15 kilotonnes or more suggests the position is improving; whereas an increase of 15 kilotonnes or more suggests the position is worsening.