Aim of the Plan

The Plan focuses on the management of Scotland’s waste for the next ten years and aims to change the way business, individuals and others view and deal with waste. 

The stated aim of the Plan is “to make the most efficient use of resources by minimising Scotland’s demand on primary resources, and maximising the reuse, recycling and recovery instead of treating them as waste.”  The fundamental principle of waste management hierarchy: waste prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery underpins the Plan.
 
“Zero waste” remains expressed as eliminating the unnecessary use of raw materials, waste prevention, reusing products where possible, recovering value from products at end of life, building sustainable design into products and resource efficiency. The concept of “zero waste” is also intended to assist in the achievements of targeted reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 pursuant to the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (“the Act”). 

Possibly as recognition of uncertainty and lack of a clear direction on the regulation of emerging technologies, an express intention of the Plan is to create a stable policy framework which will provide confidence for necessary investment in developing technologies to maximise resource value and use. 

Key objectives  

The key objectives proposed in the Plan include:-

• The establishment of a waste prevention programme for all wastes;
  
  
• A new 70% recycling target for all waste, (not simply municipal waste but including business and industry) and maximum 5% to landfill by 2025 for all of Scotland’s waste;
  
  
• Landfill bans for specific waste types;
  
  
• Mandatory source segregation and separate collection of specific waste types including food;
  
  
• Restrictions on inputs to all energy from waste facilities.  For example limiting inputs to residual wastes;
  
  
• Measurement of the carbon impacts of waste to prioritise the recycling of resources, which offer the greatest environment and climate change outcomes; and
  
  
• Improved information on different wastes potentially identifying economic and environment opportunities.

Resource evaluation

Waste is presented throughout the Plan as a potential resource, the most efficient use for which should be considered. In addition to recognising that the reduction or reuse of resources may lead to cost savings, the Plan identifies economic opportunities by recovering resources and converting them into high quality products. 

Whilst the Plan acknowledges that energy from waste has the potential to contribute 31% of Scotland’s renewable heat target and 4.3% of the renewable electricity target, it states that this process should only be used for resource streams which are unsuitable for re-use or recycling. Further detail is provided within the annexes to the Plan.

The Plan is intended to provide market confidence for new infrastructure and technologies such as anaerobic digestion and mechanical and biological treatment. However, whilst there is an acknowledgement that the land use planning system will reviewed in order to support the Plan’s objectives, it is unclear what, if any, funding will be available to assist the establishment of the new infrastructure required. 

Implementation

A number of measures are identified in order to tackle resource streams, economic opportunity, resource management and education and awareness.  The Scottish Government will develop a waste prevention programme for all waste emphasising prevention.  As more facilities will required to collect, sort, reuse, recycle and process waste, the aim is to ensure that the design of new developments facilitates sustainable waste management. For housing this may require the creation of accessible linkage to waste segregation and the coherent linkage to heat and power use. The timing of restrictive legislation such as landfill bans must be closely aligned to the existence of alternative treatment infrastructure. 

Implications

For business not only will progressive landfill bans for food and dry recyclables have an impact on the disposal (and the potential cost of treatment) of resources but the proposed use of powers under the Act to introduce regulatory reporting on resource use by the business sector by October 2010 should create more transparency and greater scrutiny. The possibility of comparisons of commercial competitors in waste or resource performance leagues (akin to performance leagues for energy usage under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme) may become increasingly feasible.

The Scottish Government also intends to establish sector specific programmes to deliver the Plan’s targets and will consider options for extended producer responsibility and take back schemes necessitating further appraisal of design, packaging and components. The proposed assessment of the carbon impacts of waste will heighten awareness of resource worth and environment cost. Further, separate recycling and composting targets are to be developed for industrial and commercial waste.

In order to encourage the purchase of products containing recycled content and minimise resource use, a sustainable procurement toolkit will be developed, which should be followed carefully by manufacturers and should influence the identity of the recipient of at least some public funds.

All sectors should expect increased scrutiny and regulation but also opportunities for competitive advantage for those whom explore the commercial implications of zero waste before their peers.