Report warns of 32m potential cost from Schedule 2

The study, entitled ‘Understanding Current Management Arrangements for Schedule 2 of the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 Waste', was commissioned by Defra to assess how waste from certain kinds of institutions such as schools and prisons is currently managed.

This is because the Department is currently reviewing Schedule 2 of the Controlled Waste Regulations (CWR) under which councils have the power to charge for the collection of this material but not its disposal – which worries many local authorities because they have not historically done so (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, the report estimates that if all Schedule 2 waste which is not currently handled by councils in England and Wales is collected by them, their waste disposal costs would rise by between 2.2% and 2.9% a year – equivalent to £24-32 million.

The calculation is in fact likely to be even higher as it does not take into account the planned increase in landfill tax.

Consultant Enviros, which carried out the research, conducted a telephone survey of 67% of local authorities in England and Wales, completed desk-based research and held interviews with commercial waste service operators in order to come to these conclusions.

Using this information, the consultancy estimated that 1.15 million tonnes of waste arises from Schedule 2 premises across England and Wales each year.

Of this, it claimed that around 550,000 tonnes (48%) was estimated to be in the municipal waste stream already and around 600,000 tonnes (52%) was not currently collected by councils.

Assuming that the latter was handled by local authorities, Enviros claimed that council collection costs would increase by an estimated £38.8 million, representing a 3.1% increase on current costs. However, as the regulations allow councils to make a reasonable charge for the collection element, it noted that this cost could be passed on.

When looking at the disposal costs, it was assumed that 200,000 tonnes of the 600,000 tonnes was recycled.

Trends

The report also identified current trends in how Schedule 2 waste is managed. While the approaches to collecting this waste appeared to vary greatly, the majority of councils provided a collection service to schools, care homes, charity shops and public halls, but fewer provided this for hospitals, penal institutions, royal palaces and universities.

The majority of local authorities also appeared to not charge for disposal for Schedule 2 waste, as required by the CWR. Around 20% of councils charged institutions in question for collection and disposal.

Such a difference of opinion over where councils can charge for collection and disposal has recently lead to a threat of legal action in Somerset (see letsrecycle.com story).

Impacts

When interviewed about the impact of Schedule 2 waste collections on their businesses, commercial operators expressed concerns about the potential loss of revenue that may occur if they no longer had commercial contracts for a collection and disposal service to these particular types of premises.

If local authorities meanwhile had to collection the extra waste, Enviros estimated that municipal waste arisings would rise by 2% in England and 1.8% in Wales – creating consequent demand for more landfill, reprocessing and incineration capacity.

The authors noted that a key implication would be whether the facilities currently used or being procured by local authorities had the capacity to accept the tonnage which was currently managed by commercial operators if all Schedule 2 waste moved into the municipal stream.

One of the key concerns raised by local authorities was also the effect the additional waste could have on their performance with regards to national indicators and the amount of municipal biodegradable waste sent to landfill under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.

The report said: “Depending on the treatment capacity local authorities have/or are procuring, as an alternative to landfill, and when these facilities become operational, some WDAs may find it difficult to not exceed their allocated landfill allowances in 2012/13, if all Schedule 2 waste moves into the municipal waste stream.”

Consultation

A 12-week consultation on a package of options to amend the Schedule 2 of the Controlled Waste Regulations legislation is set to be launched in January or February 2010.

However, it is thought that the move will require primary legislation and therefore will take much longer to come into force.