The system used to help reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste councils send to landfill, the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme, or LATS, looks set to be scrapped as part of the governments Waste Policy Review.
The scheme was introduced in 2005 and involves Englands waste disposal authorities receiving allowances – which can be traded – to send an ever-decreasing amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) to landfill. It aims to allow the UK to meet landfill diversion targets set under the EU Landfill Directive.
However, in recent years, continuing increases in landfill tax are seen as having superseded LATS as being the key policy driver diverting biodegradable waste from landfill.
At the same time, the way the UK measures its progress towards the landfill diversion goals means it is adopting a broader definition of municipal waste, featuring more commercial and industrial waste. This will mean the LATS system will provide less of an accurate measurement of BMW to landfill in the context of those targets.
The situation was acknowledged by Defra in September 2010, where it said it was considering the future of LATS after the next target Landfill Directive target year, 2013, and cautioned councils against trading any surplus allowances for after then (see letsrecycle.com story) .
And, it is now understood that the department has written to councils specifically warning them against trading future allowances, with local authority sources indicating that the scheme will be ended at the end of 2012/13.
This could create issues for any councils which have already paid up front for allowances up to and including 2012/13. In January 2009, the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority secured a deal worth over 3 million on surplus LATS allowances from North East councils to cover the period until 2012/13, and potentially beyond that (see letsrecycle.com story).
Business waste
However, the potential abolition of the scheme is likely to be welcomed by most councils, who have long argued that it dissuades them from running trade waste services due to concerns that any waste they collect from businesses may count towards their LATS targets (see letsrecycle.com story).
One local authority source told letsrecycle.com that the change would benefit councils in terms encouraging them to run a service that could generate much-needed income.
It could also benefit businesses, and small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, by increasing the availability of collection services, they added.
Defra has stressed that any announcement on LATS future will be made as part of the Waste Review, which is expected to be published in May or June 2011.
However, the department has indicated that it plans to retain the system councils use to report their waste management performance, known as WasteDataFlow, albeit with simplified data reporting requirements for councils.
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In September 2010, Defra said it believed it provided a valuable source of data serving other policy needs alongside LATS and the Landfill Directive.
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