UK trails Europes best in landfill diversion

The UK has significantly reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill, but still remains adrift of Europes best performers, according to a new report from the European Commission.

The report published yesterday (April 16) analyses the effect economic instruments such as landfill tax, pay-as-you-throw and producer responsibility schemes have had in meeting European waste objectives.

These objectives were set out in September 2011 in the Commissions Resource Efficiency Roadmap (see letsrecycle.com story) and will requires member states to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and to maximise recycling and reuse.

Landfill

The report highlights the fact that the UK still remains far behind the continents top performing nations including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands who all sent less than 3% of waste to landfill in 2010, compared to 48% in the UK.

Environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said: Waste is too valuable to just throw away, and if you manage it right you can put that value back into the economy. Six member states now combine virtually zero landfilling and high recycling rates. Not only do they exploit the value of the waste, they have created thriving industries and many jobs in the process.

This report shows how they achieved it: by making prevention, reuse and recycling more economically attractive through a selection of economic instruments. We now have a common responsibility with the member states and local authorities to ensure that these instruments are effectively used and spread across the EU. This is one of the central goals of the Resource Efficiency Roadmap.

It is noted, however that the UK has taken steps to reduce its reliance on landfill, highlighting that between 2002 and 2009, the amount of municipal waste sent to landfill per person has shrunk, from around 464 to 259kg per capita.

And, according to the report, the introduction of landfill tax in the UK in 1996 has demonstrably contributed to this improvement.

Tax

Nations such as Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic whose landfill tax rate was shown to be less than 40 were found to landfill on average more than 60% of their municipal waste.

According to the report: It does appear reasonable to state that in addition to simply reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, higher landfill charges tend to push waste towards recycling and composting, therefore moving waste treatment up the waste hierarchy.

However, the Commission asserts that the most effective method to effectively oversee a reduction is to enforce a ban or a limit on the amount of residual waste without any form of pre-treatment from being sent to landfill, alongside high charges for landfilling waste.

The study also looks at the economic impact of producer compliance schemes on the cost of recycling for packaging, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), End of Life Vehicles (ELVs) and batteries. According to the Commission, the cost efficiency and transparency of producer compliance schemes vary greatly between member states, and schemes in some countries are still yet to cover the cost of collection and recycling of waste for local and waste disposal authorities.

Options

Based on the findings of the report three potential policy options for consideration based on the findings of the study have been identified, these are likely to feed in to future EU waste strategy. The options include:

• Setting a minimum level of landfill tax to be applied across all member states the report favours the establishment of a common method for calculating a minimum tax level to apply to member states for every tonne of municipal waste that is sent to landfill.
• Producing criteria for the design of producer responsibility schemes the report recommends research the best methods that determine the success of producer responsibility schemes to producers fully fund the cost of recycling.
• Encouraging the use of charging that ensures waste generators face incentives in line with the waste hierarchy the report suggests guidance to define how to designe pay-as-you-throw schemes so that they enhance the prospects for prevention and recycling.

The report highlights the value of the waste sector to the European economy, estimating that the waste management and recycling industries in the EU had a turnover of around 140 billion (119 billion) in 2008, employing around 2 million people across the continent.

According to a study published in January 2012, full implementation of EU waste legislation would save 72 billion (60 billion a year, and increase the annual turnover of the waste management sector by 42 billion (35 billion) by 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story).