Under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS), waste disposal authorities are required to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste they send to landfill each year.
Some local authorities are concerned by the apparent difference between the practical definition used in the government's guidance and the legal definition
Defra
Each local authority is allocated a certain number of permits each year to landfill biodegradable municipal waste, and these can be borrowed or traded with other councils or banked for subsequent years.
However, there has been some confusion over exactly what can be classed as municipal waste under the tough limits, which can see councils fined £150 per tonne for exceeding their allowance levels of landfilling.
Councils including the Western Riverside Waste Authority had said there were “serious flaws” in the government's definition of municipal waste within LATS guidance, compared to the definition within UK law (see letsrecycle.com story).
Within the consultation announced last week, Defra conceded: “Some local authorities are concerned by the apparent difference between the practical definition used in the government's guidance and the legal definition set down in the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003.”
The consultation paper has been sent to waste disposal and collection authorities across the country, as well as to organisations such as the Local Government Association and Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee.
Options
The paper lists three options:
1. Do nothing and leave the definition as it is. Defra said it does not want to do this because it believes “that long-term certainty is essential to enabling local authorities to
make the most effective use of LATS to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill in the most cost effective way”.
2. Amend government guidance. Again Defra does not want to do this because it believes it has interpreted the definition of municipal waste correctly and that the UK's targets as set by the Landfill Directive have been measured using this approach.
3. Amend the Waste and Emissions Trading Act definition of municipal waste. This is Defra's preferred option and would see the definition of municipal waste amended to include “all waste which comes into the possession of, or under the control of waste disposal or waste collection authorities, with the exception of municipal construction and demolition waste.”
The deadline for responses to the consultation is September 21.
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