And, speaking to letsrecycle.com today, trade associations and campaign groups in the Scottish waste sector outlined what they hoped would be addressed in the strategy, as well as issues arising from the preceding consultation period which closed in November 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Among the main issues highlighted was the need for a greater parity in the attention given to waste from municipal streams and that from commercial & industrial (C&I) sources.
The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), in its consultation response, outlined the benefits of the Scottish Government setting targets for reduction and prevention of both C&I and construction and demolition (C&D) wastes but called for accurate data to be accrued first.
The CIWM said: “We recognise the benefits of setting targets for the reduction and/or prevention of C&I wastes and C&D wastes. However, targets for the reduction and/or prevention of C&I and C&D wastes should not be set until there are sufficient and accurate data over a representative period of time on which to base them.”
Echoing the CIWM, Dan Barlow, head of policy at WWF Scotland, said that it would be important for C&I waste to have an increased focus in the National Waste Plan, given that it accounts for a proportion of Scottish waste.
He said: “A lot of focus has been on household recycling but because household waste is just a fraction of the total waste in Scotland and much is commercial, industrial, construction and demolition, I am looking for a particularly bold commitment which will show what they will commit to in order to deal with waste from across these sectors.”
Resource
The Community Recycling Network Scotland (CRNS), which represents the community recycling sector in the country, also said that moves to address the issue of C&I waste and general improvement of resource management would be welcomed.
Pauline Hinchion, chief executive of the CRNS, said: “It is very exciting for us. I think what I would say that CRNS is pleased as, for the first time, it actually takes on commercial and industrial and construction and demolition waste and not just municipal waste and the emphasis is on resource maximization and a resource efficiency economy.”
Furthermore, Ms Hinchion added that the development of a National Waste Plan, “if done properly”, could create a platform for green job generation, she said: “This means we are really starting to see the concept of ‘zero waste' really focused on resource maximization, which can produce strong economic benefits which might be really effective at a time when we are still coming out of recession.”
EfW
A subject of some contention has been the Scottish Government's proposal to limit the amount of municipal waste which could be treated by energy-from-waste facilities to 25% by 2025, with environment secretary Richard Lochhead last month announcing that the Government was reconsidering setting a limit (see letsrecycle.com story).
A spokesman for the Scottish Environmental Services Association (SESA) drew attention to the fact that the ambitious ‘zero waste' targets could have a potential knock-on effect for the infrastructure required to meet those goals and a cap on energy-from-waste could be limiting.
He said: “We welcome the Scottish Government's strong focus on recycling and composting, however, we have previously noted that a cap on EfW provides a number of practical challenges for the cost competitive delivery of the necessary infrastructure.
“We understand that the Scottish Government has examined the proposal to cap EfW and hope that the Zero Waste Plan takes account of the industry's concerns. An EfW cap would otherwise prejudice a potentially important contributor to cutting Scotland's landfill and carbon emissions.”
And, the CIWM said that the “rationale for these caps is unclear” and feared that the incineration cap, along with a 5% cap on waste to landfill by 2025, could “restrict the use of viable waste management options”.
Furthermore, the trade association claimed that the incineration cap would need to be reviewed to assess how the issue of residual ash from the incineration process would fit into the limits. CIWM said of ash produced from the energy-from-waste process, 5-10%, would end up being landfilled.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities – the umbrella body representing the 32 Scottish councils – declined to comment on the National Waste Plan until after its full publication.
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