from Sunday Herald, 12 October 2008
Seven Scottish councils have failed to meet government targets to cut the amount of waste they dump in landfill sites, according to new figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
The worst offender was Aberdeenshire Council, which disposed of 10,600 tonnes more waste to landfill than it should have done. The other six councils which exceeded their targets for 2007-08 were Aberdeen, North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Highland, East Lothian and Perth and Kinross.
The councils, and the Scottish government, have all come under fire for not doing enough to encourage recycling and waste minimisation. But they have defended themselves by pointing to a series of initiatives underway to improve their performance.
To coincide with a major waste industry conference in Glasgow last week, Scottish ministers publicised the latest waste statistics from local authorities. They highlighted the fact that the overall recycling rate had increased by 3.3% to 31.7% in 2007-08 as “a great leap forward”.
But buried in the tables released by Sepa was another, less welcome, revelation. More than 35,500 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste had been dumped as landfill by councils in excess of the amounts allowed under the European landfill directive (see table below).
In England, councils which dump too much waste have to buy landfill allowances from other councils, or face fines of £150 per tonne. The Scottish government, however, has suspended fines pending a review.
“Everyone is praising Scotland for its ambitious vision for waste, but so far this isn't being backed up by action on the ground,” said Alex Marshall, a waste specialist from the ENDS environmental journal.
“The government has had to suspend fines, as it is the main reason councils are in this mess. Until it provides a clear direction and financial support, they will continue to rely on landfill.”
Dr Dan Barlow, head of policy with WWF Scotland, argued that recycling should be stepped up and waste reduced. “Failure by these local authorities to meet their landfill targets is at odds with the Scottish government commitment to work towards zero waste,” he said.
The cabinet environment secretary Richard Lochhead, accepted that the performance of a small number of local authorities had been “disappointing”. The government would work with them to minimise the waste going to landfill, he said.
“Scotland’s performance on waste has come on leaps and bounds since the beginning of devolution, after a sluggish start and is improving at a rate similar to the rest of the UK. There is, however, no room for complacency.”
The seven councils did not dispute that they had breached the landfill targets. Aberdeenshire blamed its increasing population, and stressed how much its residents were doing to boost recycling.
“We are striving to introduce and develop recycling collections and new initiatives to divert more waste from landfill, including introducing trial food waste collections in north Aberdeenshire,” said a council spokesman.
Aberdeen City Council pointed out that its plan for a new energy-from-waste plant had been delayed because it had been refused planning permission. It was planning to encourage recycling by cutting wheelie bin collections to every fortnight from next year.
“Achieving high levels of recycling and composting will be a massive challenge and the increased cost of delivering these services will have to be balanced against the severe financial constraints the council is currently facing,” said a council spokesman.
North Lanarkshire said it had improved its performance since the latest figures had been collected, and an extra 25,000 tonnes of waste would be diverted from landfill over the next year. Inverclyde was also planning to extend recycling and considering “enforcement action” against residents who failed to comply with the council’s policy.
Highland Council argued that new waste treatment facilities would be needed to meet the landfill targets, while Perth and Kinross pointed out that its target was “particularly challenging” because its recycling levels had long been better than most councils. East Lothian Council did not comment.
Sepa’s head of waste, Kenny Boag, pointed out that the majority of councils had met their landfill target. “Certain councils have failed to meet their target,” he said. “Sepa will concentrate efforts on working with these local authorities to help solve these problems.”
COUNCILS FAILING TO MEET LANDFILL TARGETS
council / waste dumped in excess of 2007-08 target (tonnes)
Aberdeenshire / 10,600
Aberdeen / 9,242
North Lanarkshire / 6,703
Inverclyde / 3,930
Highland / 2,706
Perth and Kinross / 1,258
East Lothian / 1,131Total / 35,570
source: Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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