Welsh councils hit landfill targets but more work needed

The government body has also pledged more training to council waste officers submitting quarterly data, after it emerged that two thirds were failing to return their Landfill Allowances Scheme (LAS) figures on time.

The figures released this week by the Environment Agency and the Welsh Assembly Government for 2006/07 show that the 22 local authorities in Wales sent 754,582 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill. This was 20% less than the 2006/07 allowance allocation of 943,999 tonnes.

In 2006/07, 11 Welsh councils used 80% or less of their set allocation, with Neath Port Talbot and Swansea topping the table with 60% and 66%, respectively. The five local authorities at the other end of the scale that used 90% or more were Pembrokeshire, Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Cardiff and Carmarthenshire.

The new figures show the amount of waste going to landfill fell by 96,907 tonnes compared with 2005/06. This is the third year of the scheme although in 2004/05, data was collected for the last six months only after the scheme was introduced half way through the year.

Councillor Richard Parry Hughes, Wales Local Government Association spokesperson for environment, said: “While we still have a long way to go, the performance to date emphasises the hard work councils have put in over the last few years.

“However we know that the targets each year are set to get harder. We need waste minimisation to feature more strongly – if we reduce the amount of rubbish that is put out for collection, we not only help save the planet but also create savings by not having to pay for it to be put in a landfill.”

Harder

In its LAS report, the Environment Agency said: “Over the coming years, the allocations will get progressively harder to achieve and local authorities will need to step up the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill.”

It explained that when European Landfill Directive targets come into effect in 2009/10, Wales will only be able to send 710,000 tonnes to landfill and is currently 6.3% over this.

The Agency added that it would “develop further guidance and training on report and validating” waste data to make sure councils submit their data promptly at the end of every quarter and avoid delays to the monitoring process.

The pledge came as it emerged that in the first quarter of 2006/07, 68% of Welsh councils met the deadline, while in the last quarter, the figure was around 55%. In the second and third quarter, only 36% made submissions on time.