Waste data
Data returns
Many environmental licences include a requirement to submit data returns or other reporting requirements on an annual or quarterly basis.
What should you do?
We are now actively reviewing many of the data returns and kindly request you to submit any outstanding returns for the following areas:
Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI):
SPRI returns for the 2023 calendar year are due by 28 February 2024.
To streamline the return process, we will be dispatching the SPRI return forms at the beginning of January. Each site will receive an Excel form tailored to its requirements. These forms must be completed and returned via email to SPRI.Administration@seoa.org.uk no later than 28 February 2024.
Please inform us promptly of any changes to your contact information to facilitate smooth communication during the return process.
If a return is not received by the due date, we will look for a suitable alternative and may contact you by phone or letter to request more information.
The WDF data submissions and SEPA data validation tool are not impacted and operating as usual. Please submit your data as usual. Please send any queries to wastedata.flow@sepa.org.uk
Licensed Site Returns (waste) and Material Recovery Facility Code of Practice Returns:
Please submit any outstanding returns to waste.data@sepa.org.uk as soon as possible. Submitted returns should be representative of the same reporting periods as stated in your licence or permit, data should not be consolidated in one single return. Following this, please revert to the standard reporting schedule. Additional detail, reporting guidance, and current reporting forms are available on our website.
Please submit any outstanding returns to waste.data@sepa.org.uk as soon as possible.
For businesses who are required to submit Producer Responsibility (PR) data, please continue to use the relevant UK system to submit your data. SEPA is also now able to receive data submissions via the Producer.Responsibility@sepa.org.uk mailbox.
Other returns not mentioned above:
For any other returns required by your SEPA licence and not covered above, in most cases we are able to receive these and are proactively contacting licence holders to request submission. In the interim, if you wish to submit a licence return not covered above, please contact us for advice on the most appropriate means of submission.
For the avoidance of doubt, you should continue to report any environmental incidents as required by your SEPA permit by contacting our 24 Hour Pollution Hotline: 0800 80 70 60.
Waste data
SEPA is responsible for reporting national waste statistics to the Scottish Government and European Union among others. As regulator, SEPA also has a duty to assess whether waste management sites comply with the conditions of their licence or permit.
To do this, SEPA collects and verifies data from a number of sources, mainly:
- Operators of all licensed and most permitted waste management sites
- Operators of certain activities exempt from full waste management licensing
- Local authorities.
A strategy for improving waste data in Scotland, also known as the Waste data strategy 2017, aims to deliver Scotland's current and future waste data needs as we move towards a more resource-focused future. Written in partnership by SEPA, Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government, it outlines what we will achieve and how we are going to co-ordinate and deliver a plan that will support Scotland's transition to a more circular economy, where products and materials are kept in high value use for as long as possible.
Most of the data are presented as interactive tools with tables and charts that can be filtered to suit. All the data are available in Excel format.
SEPA also collects and reports on offsite transfers of waste from industrial sites through the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI).