Executive Summary

Introduction and Background
This Western Isles Area Waste Plan (AWP) has been developed by the Waste Strategy Area Group (WSAG) to establish a framework for improved waste management practices throughout the Western Isles.

The key aim of the plan is to:

'Contribute to the sustainable development of the Western Isles Area by developing waste management systems that will control waste generation, reduce the environmental impacts of waste production, improve resource efficiency, stimulate investment and maximise the economic opportunities arising from waste'.

The principle of sustainable development is now fully embedded at all levels of government thinking and policy-making. The Scottish Executive recognises that effective resource use is a crucial element of sustainable development and therefore set the following objective within the Spending Proposals for 2003-6:

'Ensure progress towards sustainable waste management of Scotland's waste and achievement of EU landfill reduction targets by 2010, 2013 and 2020'.

The Executive overall national target set to achieve this aims to:

• Increase the amount of waste collected by the local authorities that is recycled or composted to 25% by 2006.

This plan has five main parts:

The plan currently focuses primarily on MSW – i.e. waste produced by households and commercial premises that is collected by the council. There are legislative changes taking place that require priority to be placed on these wastes – new approaches and targets for other, non-municipal solid waste (non-MSW) will be developed in future. Section 3 sets out the strategy for implementing the ‘Best Practicable Environmental Option’ (BPEO) for MSW, as agreed by the WSAG in March 2002 and reported in the Western Isles Draft Area Waste Plan, July 2002.

Information and data on non-MSW are currently insufficient to conduct a thorough analysis of management options and identify BPEO. Furthermore, these wastes are often produced, collected and transported separately, and they have very different physical characteristics and regulatory controls, so a range of approaches is likely to be required. Therefore, only a framework for the future development of a strategy for non-MSW is presented in section 4. The Western Isles WSAG will continue to identify areas where management of non-MSW can be improved.

Western Isles Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) – Rationale and Summary
Two extensive public consultation processes were carried out as part of the Western Isles BPEO decision process. The first sought local views on five strategic options, and the second on the Draft AWP itself. The five options were developed by the WSAG and focused around anaerobic digestion, composting, incineration with energy recovery, waste export, and continued landfill, respectively (waste prevention and minimisation was a salient feature of all the options). The overwhelming majority of responses stated a preference for either anaerobic digestion (AD) or composting as the mainstay of the AWP, and this concurred with the view of the WSAG. The other key finding, which again concurred with the views of the WSAG, was the need to dramatically improve access to, and use of, recycling facilities throughout the Isles. These twin components – centralised digestion and composting, and increased recycling – are the main elements of the Western Isles BPEO.

The selection of AD and composting as mainstay of the BPEO was also strongly influenced by the potential local utility of the soil-enhancing products associated with these processes – e.g. in restoring coastal land in the Isles. It is the view of the WSAG that an integrated system utilising both anaerobic digestion and composting processes
will provide the greatest flexibility both in terms of the feedstock wastes and the required product output.

A final consideration was the perceived need to allow the integration of other, non-MSW streams in future, particularly as regulatory controls on these wastes tighten, and the costs associated with more traditional disposal methods increase. An integrated anaerobic digestion and composting system provides the greatest flexibility in this respect, with the added bonus that the energy by-product could be used to support other local industrial processes.

The key developments proposed by the BPEO for MSW in the Western Isles are summarised as follows:

• Promoting the effective prevention of MSW at source by providing practical support to communities and businesses, and carrying out widespread education and awareness-raising programmes
  

• Promoting the increased reuse and refurbishment of MSW (e.g. by introducing schemes to repair furniture, electrical equipment, etc.)
  

• Introducing and promoting participation in widespread segregated kerbside collection of ‘biodegradable municipal waste’ (BMW) – i.e. paper, card, kitchen scraps and garden waste (from households and commercial premises)
  

• Carrying out large-scale local recovery of separately collected BMW via centralised in-vessel anaerobic digestion and composting
  

• Introducing an expanded network of local recycling bring sites for metals, glass and plastics, to provide easy community access throughout the area
  

• Developing a facility to process and reclaim any valuable materials from mixed residual waste
  

• Landfill disposal of treated mixed residual waste
  

• Promoting increased participation in community-led waste-reduction and recycling initiatives, and providing financial incentives to achieve this
  

• Ensuring there is development of sufficient local glass and paper reprocessing capacity.

The BPEO decision process was required to set specific targets for BMW recovery, materials recycling and landfill disposal. The Western Isles targets were aimed at providing a largely self-sufficient system that meets the requirements of the Landfill Directive. Achieving the targets will require a major shift away from current reliance on landfill, towards recovery and recycling of the majority of the area’s MSW. The targets are shown in Exec. Summ. Figure 1 over.

Exec. Summ. Figure 1 – Western Isles BPEO % Targets

Achieving the BPEO targets will require radically increased levels of public awareness and participation in sorting out different waste materials for separate kerbside collection. It also requires individuals to make much greater use of an improved network of local recycling centres. The process will be greatly assisted by local communities becoming directly
involved in developing and managing waste-recycling and recovery initiatives.

The 2020 targets assume the capture by kerbside collections of over 50% of the total available BMW, and 60% of the total available metal, plastic, glass and other scrap (e.g. white goods). This, in turn, will require an exceptionally high level of participation in both segregated kerbside collections and local recycling centres (80–90%). Local centres will need to become accessible and convenient for every household and commercial
premise throughout even the remotest areas. In addition, further treatment of mixed residual waste is ultimately likely to be required in order to achieve the BPEO targets and comply with the requirements of the Landfill Directive.

Taking forward the Area Waste Plan (AWP) will require partnership working at a range of levels and with a number of stakeholders. Consequently, it is essential that commitment be given by all stakeholders to both the principles behind the plan and the range of actions promoted. Education and raising awareness are vital elements in achieving widespread attitude and behavioural changes towards household and commercial waste management.

Implementing the Western Isles AWP
Delivery and monitoring of the Action Plan detailed in Annex 2 will be the mechanism for implementing the AWP. Inevitably, implementation of the Plan will result in the management of waste costing the islands more. This is driven by political will within Europe, the UK and Scotland itself – by making waste management more costly it is hoped that increasing levels of waste production can be halted and even reversed, and the level of recovery increased. Extra funding will be required for Local Authorities to deliver BPEO and, inevitably, the producers of waste will be required to contribute.

The land use planning system will be required to take account of the AWP proposals and ensure that appropriate land allocations and planning permissions for infrastructure are in place.

It is everyone’s responsibility to make this plan work. Some can make a bigger contribution than others. Your contribution will make a difference.

Area Waste Plan Process