Municipal waste
What is municipal waste?
Municipal waste is defined by the Scottish Government as
all waste for which a local authority makes arrangements, with a
few exceptions, mainly being industrial waste taken for disposal or
treatment separately from any other waste. The full
definition of municipal waste is given in Scottish Government
guidance (see opposite).
Why are municipal waste data important?
One of the main reasons that municipal waste data are important
is that they allow SEPA to monitor the Landfill Allowance
Scheme. Under this scheme every Scottish local authority is
allocated an allowance to landfill a certain amount of biodegradable municipal waste in a specified
year. This helps Scotland achieve its national targets
towards reducing the quantity of this waste that is landfilled.
How are the data collected?
Local authorities report municipal waste data on a quarterly or
monthly basis using WasteDataFlow - an online reporting system used
by all UK local authorities. Authorised data held in
WasteDataFlow can also be viewed by registered users, including the
Scottish Government, Defra, Audit Scotland, members of the public
and local authorities themselves.
What are the data used for?
SEPA use municipal waste data for a wide range of purposes
including:
- Monitoring the Landfill Allowance Scheme
- Determining local authority recycling and
composting rates and whether national targets are met
- Producing local authority waste management
reports
- Providing data for the annual Waste Data
Digest
- Providing data for other national and
European reporting obligations
Further information on municipal waste
reporting is available here: