3 Best Practicable Environmental Option for Municipal Solid Waste – The Strategy for Change

3.1 Introduction

This section sets out the best practicable environmental option (BPEO) for municipal solid wastes (MSW) in Tayside. This waste stream consists of the household and commercial wastes collected by the three Tayside local authorities.

The BPEO for Tayside will require municipal solid waste (MSW) to be managed to achieve the following:

• Meet the Landfill Directive requirements for the diversion of biodegradable municipal wastes (BMW).
  

• Preventing the generation of waste at source.
  

• Increasing segregated kerbside collections of dry recyclates and compostables.
  

• Increasing the quantities of paper, card, glass, plastic, metal etc. that are recycled.

• Increasing the quantities of putrescible wastes (e.g. garden and kitchen waste) that are composted.
  

• Ensuring energy recovery only from appropriate wastes by combustion at the DERL energy from waste plant.
  

• Reducing the quantities of waste landfilled.

The key stages and assumptions in determining the BPEO for MSW are described in detail in the Draft Tayside Area Waste Plan 2002 and other background reports, details of the availability of which can be found in Annex 4. A summary of this process is illustrated in the schematic attached to the Executive Summary.

The BPEO targets throughout this section contain strategic targets for the Waste Strategy Area. Local Implementation plans will set out the detail of localised delivery systems based on each local authorities ability achieve a proportion of the overall Tayside BPEO.