Alongside waste minimisation, SEPA sees waste area plans as essential to implementing the “National Waste Strategy: Scotland”. But, the agency says that implementing the plans has proved more challenging that anticipated which has delayed the strategy's progress.
In her introduction to the report, chief executive Tricia Henton says that the Scottish strategy is vital to achieving the government's aim for sustainable development. She said: “A key area where a major contribution can be made to sustainable development is the work on the National Waste Strategy: Scotland and on SEPA’s own waste minimisation initiative. Significant efforts have been invested during the course of the year in implementing the National Waste Strategy through the development of 11 Area Waste Plans.
“These plans encourage the long-term cultural changes that must be made by society if waste is to be managed sustainably. A sustainable approach requires a view of the entire life-cycle of waste and the Waste Minimisation Initiative is actively encouraging reductions in the volume of material that ends up as waste.”
Targets for the “recovery of value from waste” which are expected to include area recycling targets for Scotland have yet to be set. These may follow the development of area waste plans which set out integrated waste management solutions based on the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO). But these have proved to be more complex than originally anticipated with SEPA assuming a new role as a “facilitator”. Under a revised programme the majority of draft plans should ready by the end of 2001, with final plans in place by the end of summer 2002.
Minimisation
The work on waste minimisation encourages reduction of waste at source, which, says SEPA, this is because adoption of waste minimisation policies and involvement in waste minimisation projects and clubs is lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
SEPA has worked with the Scottish Waste Awareness Group to raise appreciation of waste minimisation issues to householders and an e-mail discussion forum was established with Envirowise to help the electronics sector with waste minimisation.
SEPA is also planning studies into 13 priority waste streams as identified in the National Waste Strategy. The study will start next year and will determine the size of the waste stream, current management practices, sources of the waste, barriers to re-use or recovery and to establish recovery methods and set targets.
And, Scotland's first annual Waste Data Digest will also be published this autumn which will cover reported data for 1997 and 1998.
The full annual report can be seen at SEPA 2000-2001
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