Landfill soars but councils escape penalties

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SNP defends suspension of landfill penalties. By Bruce Whitehead 

DESPITE THE huge increase in the amount of waste produced over the festive season, the Scottish government has confirmed that it has halted penalties for councils which fail to reduce their reliance on landfill.

 The government’s continued suspension of fines of up to £150 per tonne comes as year-end sales generate some of the biggest piles of packaging waste of the year. The government is already struggling to meet its own commitment to a ‘zero waste’ society, despite spending £41m annually on reducing waste, re-using packaging and  recycling more of the rubbish which currently goes to landfill.

            The Labour MSP for Dumfries Elaine Murray, whose Parliamentary Question asked if the fines were being waived, said her main concern was confusion over the EU Waste Framework Directive, agreed by member states in October. She said: “The directive makes it clear that there is to be a hierarchy of waste treatment techniques, from prevention of waste and re-use of materials as the most desirable, to recycling and disposal as the least desirable. Yet the government and local authorities’ approach shows there is total confusion about how the waste Directive should be applied.”

            The MSP said Glasgow council was planning to use autoclaves for its future waste strategy even though a crucial part of the process, recovering waste fibre as fuel, is classified by the EU as a least desirable option.

            In another apparent clash of environmental policies, she said a new public-private partnership (PPP) scheme being set up between Dumfries & Galloway Council and the Shanks company would involve recovery of plastic and paper for use as fuel pellets. However, Ms Murray said the EU waste directive regards this process as a least desirable waste treatment option.

            Rosiaina Browning, waste prevention co-ordinator at Friends of the Earth Scotland said that without the penalties associated with the Landfill Allowance Scheme, local authorities will continue to rely on the practice to deal with excess waste. She added: “The UK generates three million tonnes of waste over the festive period, so it’s disappointing that these penalties are not being applied by the Government during this time. For Scotland to fulfil its ‘zero waste’ goals, a stronger focus on waste prevention is required.”

            A spokesman for the Scottish government said it had suspended any imposition of penalties on local authorities as part of a deal struck between Holyrood and Scotland’s 32 councils last year. It said penalties could not be imposed on the UK until 2010, when it was on track to meet a target for reducing landfill by 75%.

However, the government insisted recycling and composting remained the best disposal option for the environment, even though the European waste directive regards these as less desirable solutions. In a New Year message the environment minister appeared to confirm that recycling remains the government’s preferred solution when he welcomed a poll showing that the most popular green New Year’s resolution was to recycle more. Michael Russell said: “It’s great to see that so many Scots are already planning to go greener in 2009. And the good news is that as well as helping the environment, being green can often save you money too – something that’s more important than ever during the current economic climate.”

            In a bid to cut the waste paper burden, high street stores including Marks and Spencer and WH Smith have launched their annual Christmas card recycling scheme. Backed by the Woodland Trust, the retailers are inviting shoppers to deposit their cards in special bins. The campaign aims to beat the 6.4 million cards collected in Scotland last year, equating to a reduction of 169 tonnes of carbon, with extra funds raised going towards planting new woodland. Friends of the Earth Scotland said UK households threw away about 1 billion Christmas cards last January, resulting in an extra 20,000 tonnes of rubbish.