Waste Aware Grampian - Area Waste Plan

As part of the National Waste Strategy: Scotland, each Waste Strategy Area has gone through a process which has resulted in the formulation of an Area Waste Plan.

This Area Waste Plan is the way in which the Waste Strategy Area plan to deal with its waste in order to meet the targets set out in the EC Landfill Directive and to develop more sustainable methods of waste management.

Following is a short summary of the process that was undergone in Grampian:

• March 2002 - North East Options Paper
• June 2002: Northeast Draft Area Waste Plan
• March 2003: The Area Waste Plan
  

March 2002 - North East Options Paper

In March 2002, the Northeast published a paper outlining its options for future waste management. There are:

1. Maximise recycling and composting and landfill the remainder.
2. Incineration to generate energy, recycling, composting and some landfilling.
3. Thermal treatment of waste to produce energy, recycling, composting and some landfill.
4. Anaerobic digestion, recycling, composting and landfill.
5. Export of waste to other areas, recycling, composting and landfill.

These options have now been subjected to public consultation.

If you want to know more about them, have a look at SEPA's website.

June 2002: Northeast Draft Area Waste Plan

The Northeast Waste Strategy Area has now published its Draft Area Waste Plan. This is the way in which the Waste Strategy Area Group (WSAG) intends to deal with the region's waste from now until the year 2020.

The Draft Plan is driven by the EC Landfill Directive. This legislation lays out some targets for the reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfills. The final target requires that we reduce the amount of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) that is sent to landfill to 35% of what it was in 1995. This means that in the year 2020, the Northeast will only be allowed to landfill just under 63,000 tonnes of BMW.

BMW produces methane and other gases when it decomposes in landfills. Methane is thought to contribute to global warming.

The Draft Plan is currently open to public consultation. This means that anyone can read it and send in their views to the WSAG. It is most important that you do this, as your opinion will be taken into consideration.

If you wish to read the full text of the Draft Plan, you can download it from SEPA's website.

Below is a summary of what the contents of the Draft Plan that pertain to Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). MSW is comprised of all the solid waste that is collected by or on behalf of the Local Authority. This includes almost all domestic waste. The first target of the Landfill Directive is that the amount of BMW going into landfills be reduced to 75% of what it was in 1995 by 2010. The following 10 years are also considered, though in less detail.

The Draft Plan was formulated following a public consultation on the waste management options mentioned above. The general trends of opinion seemed to be:

1. A clear preference for recycling and composting;
2. An adverse response to thermal treatment.

The Best Practicable Environmental Option was then determined. This formed the basis of the Draft Plan, which proposes to:

1. To prevent the amount of waste produced to increase beyond 2002 levels. This will include promoting a real (reusable) nappy scheme;

2. To stop the landfilling of unsorted waste by 2010;

3. To introduce home composting to at least 15% of all households. Click here to find out more about home composting;

4. To expand small-scale community composting;

5. To increase bring sites (e.g. bottle banks); Click here for specific targets.

6. To introduce the separate kerbside collection of dry recyclables and organic waste; Click here to see specific targets.

7. To construct a new Material Reclamation Facility in Aberdeen City;

8. To open an Energy from Waste plant in 2005;

9. To open composting plants in Moray and Aberdeenshire.

In summary, the emphasis of waste management will be on recycling, composting and Energy from Waste. Reuse and refurbishment will also be encouraged.

March 2003: The Area Waste Plan

The North East Area Waste Plan has now been published.

Here are some of the targets it aims to achieve:

• separate collections for recyclates will be developed and expanded;
• a network of composting plants will be constructed;
• by 2010 an Energy from Waste plant will be constructed;
• a Materials Reclamation Facility is to be built, where recyclates that have been collected can be sorted and baled to be sent on to recyclers;

  If you live in Aberdeen City and have a garden, your garden waste will be collected separately by 2010. There will be communal street bins for recyclates as well as more recycling centres and points.

  In Aberdeenshire, there will be at least one recycling point for every fifty households.

  In Moray, by 2005, most households with gardens will have their green waste collected separately. There will also be many more recycling centres and points.

If you would like to read the plan, please click here to download it from the SEPA website.

If you have any queries, please email us, or call 0845 600 5 333