4. Managing Non-Municipal Solid Wastes

4.1 Non-Municipal Solid Wastes National Framework

Over 12 million tonnes (1) of waste arose from Scotland’s homes, shops, offices and industry in 1998. Currently, however, due to the lack of complete and robust data for all wastes, the development of the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) for the Lothian and Borders has initially focused on just 2.9 million tonnes of this total waste stream produced in Scotland – municipal solid waste (MSW), e.g. “household waste and any other waste under the control of local authorities or their agents acting on their behalf (The Landfill Directive: A Consultation Paper, 17 November 1999, Scottish Executive).

This chapter focuses on non-Municipal Solid Wastes (non-MSW). These consist of all industrial wastes, all commercial wastes not collected by the Local Authorities, non-natural agricultural wastes, and mines and quarries wastes.

A framework to address the management of non-MSW wastes, which forms the largest part of the wastes produced in Scotland, has been developed through a partnership between representatives from the following organisations SEPA, Scottish Executive, the Enterprise community and the waste management industry. These wastes will be a major focus for the future development of the National Waste Strategy: Scotland and local Area Waste Plan.

Non-MSW is more complex than Municipal Wastes collected by the Local Authorities, and significant data gaps exist. Whilst the BPEO process initially developed by SEPA has been successfully applied to MSW, it has become apparent that the process needed to be reviewed and redefined when dealing with other waste streams.

Continuing the partnership approach that is at the heart of the NWSS development, a multi-stakeholder group was brought together to obtain preliminary views and input into a management approach for non-MSW.

The key issues for non-MSW are:

1. Waste Arisings Data – the lack of requirement to record and report waste arisings data has contributed to the absence of sufficiently detailed data required to make a BPEO decision.

2. Producer Behaviour – tools that are currently available and those that need to be developed further to influence the behaviour of commercial and industrial waste producers to ensure the adoption of the BPEO.

3. Non-Municipal Solid Wastes Plan – provision of a detailed plan to ensure that the NWSS and local Area Waste Plans (AWP) deal with all controlled wastes and not just focus on MSW.

4.1.1 Specific Waste Streams

Using the Consolidated European Waste Catalogue (August 2002) all listed wastes have been grouped into compatible industry sectors and will form the basis of future work for non-MSW. These groupings also include agricultural, mining and quarry wastes that are currently not controlled wastes but will imminently be included with the controlled waste-regulatory regime.

Any links with the current Priority Waste Stream programme and existing Technical Guidance, Best Practice, etc., have been made along with possible links to current BPEO technology options for MSW as set out in section 3 of the Area Waste Plan.

The waste groupings are detailed in Table 17 following:

Table 17 - Waste Groupings

4.1.2 Project Timetable

A list of criteria have been developed to classify the wastes into high, medium and low priority projects. These have been based on the following considerations

• Links to Municipal Solid Waste BPEO
  

• Hazardous Content
  

• Recovery/Recycling Value
  

• Sectoral Importance (to the Scottish Economy)
  

• Infrastructure Shortfall in Scotland
  

• Quantity
  

• Finite Resource.

A further prioritisation stage has also taken place on the current and future regulatory/legislative requirements for the wastes to be addressed.

These projects will be managed at either the local or the national level depending on the geographical distribution of arisings. Section 4.2 details how this Area Waste Plan will contribute to the outputs of these projects.

See national plan for further detail on the identified non-MSW projects.

4.1.3 Project Groups and Outputs

Technical groups will be established consisting of the key waste producers and managers of the waste groupings (Table 17) to drive the range of projects forward. The membership of these groups is very important to ensure ownership and acceptability of the project outputs by those sectors that produce and manage these wastes for the future. The groups will undertake and commission work that will seek to provide the following recommended outputs:

• Establish reliable baseline data and existing regulatory controls
  

• Report on current practices to deal with waste
  

• List current facilities and technologies
  

• Identify emerging technologies and processes
  

• Recommend good practice and links to existing best practice guidance
  

• Provide guidance on identifying local BPEO and the use of Life-Cycle Assessment
  

• Identify problematic wastes that may require further research
  

• Identify waste minimisation tools

• Identify skills gaps and training opportunities
  

• Identify barriers to achieving BPEO and recommendations to overcome
  

• Describe benefits and opportunities to implementing BPEO
  

• Identify necessary regulatory controls and other drivers
  

• Identify any necessary economic and regulatory impact assessments for the sector
  

• Identify enterprise opportunities and social benefits.

4.1.4 Self-Assessment Guidance for BPEO Decision Making

Whilst it is recognised that not all wastes can be addressed as a high priority and the timetabling of BPEO projects will be over the longer term, there are opportunities to encourage the widespread use of the BPEO decision-making processes that consider environmental, economic and social aspects when dealing with these wastes. The development of generic Self-Assessment BPEO Guidance for Industry will provide a valuable and consistent process for waste producers, waste industry and waste regulators alike, when making localised assessments on the best sustainable options available and the use of life-cycle assessment. In order to achieve widespread industry ownership and credibility of the guidance, it shall be developed in an inclusive manner with consultation involving key stakeholders and will be undertaken on a national level.

Notes
(1) This figure does not include agricultural, mining and quarrying wastes as these are currently not controlled wastes as defined by the Environmental Protection Act 1990.