Landfill Allowance Scheme reports

SEPA produces annual and quarterly reports for the Landfill Allowance Scheme to provide a summary of the recycling and composting rate and of the amount of biodegradable municipal waste landfilled for each local authority in Scotland. 

The data in the reports are obtained from WasteDataFlow.  Prior to 2006/2007, the data were obtained from the Landfill Allowance Scheme Quarterly Monitoring Return. Reports are available from 2004/2005.

The annual and quarterly reports are available here:

	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Total
2004/2005	66k	66k	66k	66k	66k
2005/2006	9k	9k	9k	9k	12k
2006/2007	17k	17k	17k	17k	17k
2007/2008	17k	17k	17k	17k	17k
2008/2009	17k	16k	16k	16k	16k
2009/2010	16k	-	-	-	-

• Rolling year data (Jul 08 - Jun09)  - Updated 20 November 2009

In the annual and quarterly reports, the tonnages for the recycling and composting rate are counted when they are sent to the reprocessors and waste arisings refer to the total waste sent for treatment and disposal.

Annual Reports

The annual reports cover a rolling year and are updated quarterly. A rolling year means that returns from the last four quarters are aggregated.  This is regarded as the best means of comparison for annual data as it eliminates seasonal factors.  Calendar or financial year data can be produced using this system.

The rolling year reports are used for two main purposes:

1. To monitor progress against recycling and composting targets set by the Scottish Government.  The rolling year reports allow a quarterly assessment of progress to be made and actions to be taken if necessary
   
   
2. To monitor progress against biodegradable municipal waste targets set by the Scottish Government.  Each year SEPA is required to report to the Scottish Government how individual local authorities and Scotland as a whole have fared against their targets. This comparison is based on financial year data

Quarterly reports

The quarterly reports cover an individual quarter. These reports should not be confused with the rolling year reports and should not be used to monitor progress towards targets as seasonal variability can hide the true trend.

The quarterly reports provide a more detailed examination of the recycling and composting rate and of the amount of biodegradable municipal wastes landfilled by local authorities in Scotland.  For example, they may reveal seasonal variations in waste production.