North East Area Waste Plan

The framework described above will be applied nationally and locally to develop plans and best practice for dealing with non-MSW. There are wastes that are more important locally. These include the following:

In addition there are wastes on which we have better data and information. These data and information has come from SEPA initiated priority waste-stream projects.

Waste streams of national significance, which may require national solutions, will be subject to a priority waste stream project Of the 13 identified priority waste-stream projects for Scotland, conclusions from the construction and demolition wastes, tyres, newsprint, and end-of-life vehicles projects have already been reported and are summarised below. Readers should refer to the actual project reports for the full set of conclusions.

This waste stream is the largest single source of waste by weight due to its high density. The data report estimates that in 1998 construction and demolition waste arisings in the North East were 337,000 tonnes with approximately 24,000 being recovered through crushing and screening, road planning and hand picking.

The study identified that nationally, around 37% of the locally landfilled construction and demolition waste could be recycled. Realising this potential locally would create a further 67,000 tonnes of secondary aggregate that could replace virgin aggregate used for construction in the North East. Information on the current infrastructure for this waste stream can be found within the SEPA ‘Priority Waste Stream Report’ (availability in Annex 3) or can be located on the CIRIA Internet Register of Recycling Sites (http://www.ciria.org.uk).

Through improved resource management of the construction industry, preventing or reducing the production of waste will have the maximum positive environmental impact, through reduced resource use, lower emissions and energy consumption. A full set of recommendations is detailed in the ‘Construction and Demolition Priority Waste Stream Project Report – Data, Best Practice and Recommendations’ (see Annex 3 for availability), requires development plans to identify a 10-year forward supply of landfill for inert and non-hazardous wastes. Construction and demolition wastes largely fall into these categories. It is expected that fiscal measures, such as the landfill tax and the aggregates tax will provide further incentives to increase the reuse and recycling of construction and demolition wastes and reduce the quantities being landfilled.

The national data study on tyres collected data from Scottish companies (see Appendix 4 of the study). The data collected were incomplete and therefore the arisings were calculated using a predictive model. Arisings in 1999 for the North East has been estimated at 2,522 tonnes. This data were broken down into three categories – 1,710 tonnes discarded by replacement, 810 tonnes from end-of-life vehicles and 2 tonnes reported as illegally dumped. This figure was further broken down into arisings by car, small truck and large truck.

Nationally, around 3% of tyres are reused, 13% recycled (via retreading and silage clamps/landfill engineering), and 49% landfilled. It should be noted, however, that since 1999, the situation has become less bleak in that very few tyres arising in Scotland are now being landfilled direct and significant markets are now available with, for example, Lafarge Cement UK (formerly Blue Circle Cement Kiln in Dunbar) using tyres as a coal substitute, and the use of old tyres within landfill sites for engineering purposes, e.g. leachate drainage layer.

Implementation of the Landfill Directive will see a ban on the disposal of whole tyres to landfill by July 2003 and shredded tyres by 2006.

Newsprint is a significant component of municipal and commercial waste streams. This project examined newsprint in the context of its suitability for recycling, its quantity and its potential to stimulate large-scale industrial investment in Scotland, through the manufacture of newsprint from recovered materials.

The total newsprint waste arisings in Scotland in 1999 is estimated to have been approximately 240,000 tonnes and rising – 6% printers waste, 11% over issue to sales outlets and 83% post consumer (based on sales data). Recovery of newsprint from the whole of Scotland is estimated at 75% printers waste, 100% of over issues and 14% of post-consumer newsprint.

It is estimated that the Landfill Directive targets to divert Biodegradable Municipal Waste from landfill will require the recovery of between 150,000 and 230,000 tonnes per year of newsprint waste by 2016, which represents a five to eightfold increase in recovery above current levels. It is unlikely that this will result in new mill capacity being developed in Scotland but a number of other potential outlets have been identified:

These outlets can be developed as new reprocessing opportunities within the North East but will require a stable and guaranteed supply of materials. This, in turn, will require co-ordination and co-operation between local authorities and private sector organisations.

There are two different categories of this waste stream:

The national study on ELVs (cars and light goods vehicles) estimated 1999 arisings to be 7251 vehicles, equating to 7106 tonnes (at 0.98 tonnes average weight of an ELV).

Current infrastructure indicates that there are 16 dismantlers/Scrap Yards/Metal Recyclers in the Waste Strategy Area. It is likely the higher standards required by the End of Life Vehicles Directive will result in a reduction in the numbers of dismantlers/scrap yards/ metal recyclers over future years. The report identified Best Practice under the requirements of the End of Life Vehicle Directive that includes: