Orkney and Shetland Area Waste Plan

The EU Landfill Directive is one of the key drivers behind the National Waste Strategy: Scotland. The Directive imposes environmental and engineering standards for landfills across Europe and will ban the landfilling of many substances that are disposed of in this way at present.

The Directive also requires a progressive reduction in the landfilling of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) and the pre-treatment of wastes before landfilling, to both reduce waste volume and minimise the environmental impact of disposal. This will assist in the reduction of landfill gases, such as methane, which are significant contributors to global warming.

The Landfill Directive establishes national targets and timescales for the diversion of BMW from landfill. Where member states are particularly dependent on landfill they will be allowed to defer the implementation of the target dates by up to 4 years, and the UK will take advantage of this derogation. The UK has to report to the European Commission by July 2003 giving details of how the targets will be met and a decision on whether to extend the target dates will be taken then.

From a baseline of 1995, the amount of BMW allowed to landfill will be (assuming the four year delay is used) as follows:

Using actual 1998 annual municipal solid waste (MSW) arisings as the baseline, and assuming an average annual growth rate in MSW arisings of 1% across the area, Table 2.1 on page 24 shows predicted total MSW arisings, BMW arisings, permitted BMW to landfill, and BMW diversion requirements for each of the Directive's 3 target years. For comparative purposes, the bottom line provides an estimate of current BMW diversion from landfill via the Lerwick energy recovery facility, composting and recycling.

Table 2.1 clearly illustrates the potential effect of substantial and uncontrolled growth in MSW on compliance with the Landfill Directive. However it should be noted that by 2020 Orkney and Shetland will, in any case, be required to address future compliance requirements, as the existing Lerwick energy recovery plant will be near the end of its intended life.

Table 2.1 - BMW Diversion Required at 1% annual growth in MSW (tonnes per annum)

(2) Estimated by splitting 2.8 million tonnes for Scotland proportionally amongst the Local Authorities using Waste Arisings 1998 as to allocate each authorities proportion. Scottish Executive still to advise on method of calculation, which could significantly alter amount of waste to be diverted.

The two WSAGs will carefully monitor MSW growth and review the AWP in light of any developments that suggest weakness in any of the assumptions made. The BPEO for MSW outlined by this plan is intended to have a significant positive impact on compliance - not only by increasing diversion of BMW through recycling and composting, but by preventing future waste growth. The impact of BPEO on compliance with the Directive is dealt with in more detail in Section 3.4.

A key mechanism in controlling the amount of BMW each local authority will be allowed to landfill in future will be a system of Landfill Permits. The Scottish Executive will decide if local authorities will be able to trade their allowances. This would allow Local Authorities in areas where the additional costs of BMW diversion from landfill are disproportionately high or where landfilling is the agreed BPEO, to 'buy permits' from other Local Authorities which are exceeding their individual BMW landfill diversion target. It is the responsibility of each local authority in the Waste Strategy Area Group (WSAG) to determine how to use the permits allocated to them by the Scottish Executive. Until the working detail of the 'tradable permit system' is known and the 1995 baseline figures allocated to each local authority, the precise impact on Orkney and Shetland cannot be determined. The Orkney and Shetland BPEO is, in any case, intended to deliver area compliance with the Directive's requirements (i.e. self-sufficiency), and the area may well ultimately be in a 'credit' position with regard to tradable Landfill Permits.

The Landfill Directive also has a number of other requirements, which will have an impact on the ability of landfill sites to accept certain waste types. This will have a knock-on effect on the cost of landfill and could potentially shorten the life of some sites. Until a full assessment of the Orkney and Shetland landfill sites against the Landfill Directive criteria has been made, the full impact of the Directive will not be fully understood. The main requirements of the Directive are as follows: