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zero waste strategy

2012-2022

zero waste strategyfalkirk council

2012-2022

This publication is printed on 100% recycled paper.

Contents

Foreword 2

Introduction 3

Executive Summary 4

Background 6The Council’s Waste Management Plans 6Performance to date 6Waste Composition 7Scope of the New Strategy 8

Key Drivers 9The European Context 9The National Context 10The Local Context 12Financial Drivers 13Tools for the Council to achieve Zero Waste 13

Main Issues addressed by the Strategy 141: Climate Change 14

2: Preventing Waste 14

3: Leadership and Engagement on Waste & Resource Use 15

4: Optimising Services for the Future 17

5: Maximising the Economic Benefit from Zero Waste 19

6: Improving Waste and Resource Management Infrastructure 20

7: Managing Non-Recyclable Waste (Residual Waste) 22

Monitoring of Progress 23

Glossary of common terms 23

Appendix 1: Summary of current services 24

Appendix 2: References and Useful Links 25

2

As individuals and organisations we are becomingincreasingly aware of our impact on theenvironment, and the need to look after theprecious resources and materials we all depend onwithin our society. Every day, at home and at work,we acquire, use and dispose of resources. Too manyof those resources end up being wasted.

Falkirk Council has already made huge progresstowards sustainable waste management. Theamount of waste collected has decreased over thelast five years, and of the waste produced, over50% of it is now recycled or composted. This hasdramatically cut the amount of waste we have“thrown away” into landfill sites.

However we must continue to improve. Above all,we have to recognise that everything we use andthrow away is a resource which has a value. Weshould try to preserve, capture, and use resourcesagain wherever possible. This makes environmentaland economic sense. In addition to local authoritycollected waste there are many other wastesproduced by business in the area. This waste canbe significant in quantity and value and we muststrive to keep the value of these resources in oureconomy.

We must move from a “linear” economy whereresources are used for a short time, disposed of andnew resources introduced to replace those thrownaway. This is inefficient and unsustainable. Weneed to address this through greater resourceefficiency, where waste is minimised, and byreusing, repairing, remanufacturing and recyclingproducts & materials again and again we can strivefor a more “circular” economy.

This makes business sense. It is recognised thatScottish businesses can save over £1.4 billion simplyby being more resource efficient. Last year theCouncil landfilled over 7,000 tonnes of recyclablematerial that could have been recycled. Landfillcosts the Council over £500,000 annually in landfilltax, money which can be better used for thebenefit of our communities.

The Scottish Government has set out its ZeroWaste Plan which establishes a vision for a ZeroWaste Society. It aims to bring a step change in theway we use resources in Scotland. The Zero WastePlan is supported by ambitious climate changelegislation including powers to tackle the climateimpacts of waste, new Waste (Scotland)Regulations 2012, and also a national Zero WasteScotland delivery programme. This programmesupports action by businesses, householders andlocal authorities to reduce waste and improve theirefficient use of resources.

The Zero Waste Plan for Scotland proposes longterm targets of recycling 70% of all Scotland’swaste, and only 5% of all waste ending up inlandfill by 2025. The Waste (Scotland) Regulations2012 include obligations to separately collect keyrecyclable material and food waste from businessesand households. I believe that these targets andnew obligations are highly ambitious but may beachievable.

The materials captured from recycling offer manybusiness opportunities, from recycling,reprocessing and manufacturing.

To achieve a Zero Waste Society needscommitment and resolve from every one of us.Already in our communities people are takingaction to prevent waste and use resources moreefficiently. These are the champions of change andI am convinced that Falkirk Council should helplead the way, supporting those in our communitieswilling to take on the Zero Waste challenge. I wantyou to share our enthusiasm to meet, and exceedthe targets, and gain the benefits for ourcommunities from doing so.

Councillor Dr. Craig Martin

Foreword

The Council landfilledmaterial that could have beenrecycled resulting in over£500,000 annually spent intax, money which can be betterused for the benefit of ourcommunities.

This Zero Waste strategy sets out the strategicdirection for waste and resources within theCouncil’s control for a period of up to 10 years.The strategy follows consultation on a Joint Main Issues Paper prepared by Falkirk andClackmannanshire Councils. The process for thedevelopment of the strategy included a StrategicEnvironmental Assessment (SEA) of the proposedstrategy and its impacts (based on the Joint MainIssues Paper), culminating in the publishing of anEnvironmental Report. The comments receivedfrom the consultation, and the recommendationsfrom the Environmental Report, have beenincorporated into the final strategy wherepossible. This process was supported by ZeroWaste Scotland.

The need for the strategy has arisen from thecreation of a new national policy framework forwaste. Waste is primarily a devolved matter andtherefore the national policy framework is set bythe Scottish Government; within the widerEuropean Union policy context. The new nationalpolicy is contained in a Zero Waste Plan, launchedin June 2010 by the Scottish Government.

Since publication, Scotland's Zero Waste Plan hasbeen further supported by the Waste (Scotland)Regulations 2012, the launch of a consultation onSafeguarding of Scotland’s Resources - aprogramme for the efficient use of materials, anda Zero Waste Scotland delivery programmesupporting its implementation. Therehas also been a range of supportingguidance produced includingstatutory guidance on theimplementation of the WasteHierarchy, new guidance on the Dutyof Care, and a Kerbside Good PracticeGuide for waste collections aimedprimarily at local authorities.

Scotland's Zero Waste Planintroduced a step change in thethinking and approach to wastewithin Scotland. The focus has movedaway from addressing municipal wastethrough avoiding landfill, to the moreambitious aim of moving towards aZero Waste, resource efficient society.This suggests that the creation ofwaste should be avoided. Howeveronce created, waste should beconsidered as a valuable materialresource that needs to be brought backinto use within the Scottish economy at

its highest level of value. This can be achieved via“closed loop” reuse and recycling processes, forexample where glass bottles are recycled locally tomake raw material for new glass bottles.

The Council’s strategy reflects this change indirection and seeks to maximise the benefits this can bring to the local economy and theenvironment. The next sections of this strategy set out the background to the strategy includingthe history of the previous waste managementplans implemented by the Council, performance todate, and the scope of the new strategy.

The key drivers shaping this Zero Waste strategyfrom European to local level, the financial drivers,and the tools available to the Council are alsoexplained.

This strategy focuses on the main challengesahead on the path to Zero Waste and sets outpolicy objectives and actions to address these.These challenges have been identified in seven key issues:

The climate change impacts of waste

Preventing waste and improving resourceefficiency

Providing leadership on moving to a ZeroWaste society and engaging withhouseholders and businesses to help themachieve this

Optimising the Council’s Waste Services forthe future

Maximising the economic benefit of thepath to a Zero Waste society

Ensuring we have the correct resources andwaste management infrastructure

The management of non–recyclable waste

The final section of the strategyexplains how progress on itsimplementation will be monitoredand actions updated.

It is likely that in the coming yearsfurther policy changes to drivechange will come from both theScottish Government and the EU.This strategy will be regularlyreviewed to ensure itaccommodates these changes.Scotland’s Zero

Waste Planintroduced astep change.Waste should beconsidered as avaluableresource thatneeds to bebrought backinto use withinthe Scottisheconomy.

Introduction1

3

BackgroundThis Zero Waste Strategy replaces the Council’sprevious waste strategies which were the ForthValley Area Waste Plan (2003) and the Forth ValleyStrategic Outline Case (2006).

The Council has now implemented the majority ofthe actions agreed within these previous plans. Themain drivers for this strategy are the newobligations arising from the European WasteFramework Directive 2008/98/EC revised, thepublication of Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan (2010) andthe supporting Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Performance to dateCurrently the Council is one of the top performersfor recycling with a rate of 53.1% for the period April2011 - March 2012 (Local Authority Collected Waste).This compares to the latest Scottish local authorityaverage of 38.2%1 published by SEPA for the period2010/11.

The Council has successfully undertaken a range ofwaste prevention actions and in recent years thetotal waste arising has peaked. However the mostrecent waste analysis for the Council shows that asignificant proportion of recyclates are still beingplaced in Green wheeled bins as non-recyclablewaste and ending up in landfill. In fact up to 50% ofthe material found in the Green wheeled bins isrecyclable. Whilst the Council has performed well itis clear more needs to be done to ensure recyclablematerial is separated for collection and onwardrecycling.

Scope of the new strategyThe new strategy covers “all” waste collected andproduced by the Council, rather than just municipalwaste. It summarises current arrangements forwaste management and sets out the actions thatwill be necessary for the Council to move towardsthe vision for a Zero Waste society over a period ofup to 10 years. The strategy will guide futuredecision-making by the Council and successfuldelivery will require the engagement of all keystakeholders. This includes the support of a widerange of Council services, Community PlanningPartners, the Scottish Government, Zero WasteScotland, the community, businesses andhouseholders.

The Council has become a top waste managementperformer in Scotland and a continuation of thishigh level of performance is expected by localcommunities and key stakeholders. However thenext steps in the Zero Waste journey will be verychallenging. Budget constraints, increasing costsassociated with transport and landfill tax, andensuring that householders and businesses continueto receive quality and efficient services regardless oftheir rural or urban location will present significantchallenges.

The Main Issues to be addressed by the strategyThe policy objectives for each of the Main Issuesidentified in the Introduction to the strategy are setout below. These will be used by the Council to setthe strategic direction for waste related issues andto help our communities progress along on the pathtowards a Zero Waste society.

These policy objectives are covered in more detail inthe main body of the strategy and this is whereassociated actions for each Main Issue are alsoidentified. For explanations of terminology and thedetails of current services please refer to theGlossary and Appendix 1.

Tackling Climate Change:1. Minimise the environmental and climate change

impacts from waste management activities.

2. Use the national Carbon Metric, WasteHierarchy, and other relevant carbon accountingtools for decision making purposes.

Preventing Waste:1. To champion waste minimisation within

the community thereby reducing costs to the Council, households, and the business sector,and limiting the environmental impact of waste.

2. To work with the Scottish Government, ZeroWaste Scotland and waste producers to reducethe amount of waste created.

Executive Summary2

41 SEPA Waste Data – Local Authority Collected Waste reporting

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Leadership and Engagement:1. Future Council policies, strategies and plans

should recognise the new Zero Waste nationalpolicy framework.

2. The Council will continue to maximise theopportunities to attract funding to furthersupport Zero Waste projects.

3. The Council should continue to developbeneficial service opportunities with othercouncils and Zero Waste Scotland, as well as private and third sector partners.

4. The Council will encourage, and support,Community Planning Partners and other key organisations in the area to adopt Zero Waste principles.

5. The Council will lead by example by continuingto promote a Zero Waste approach and raiseawareness of the need to address waste relatedissues within its communities.

Optimising Services:1. To meet or exceed the targets set in Scotland’s

Zero Waste Plan (set out in Table 1).

2. To ensure that the Council’s waste collectionservices deliver Best Value and the Best PracticalEnvironmental Option to comply with the Waste(Scotland) Regulations 2012 and Kerbside GoodPractice Guidance.

3. To maximise the capture rate, quality and valueof material collected in line with the WasteHierarchy.

Maximising Economic Benefit from Zero Waste:1. Maximise the value of waste by minimising the

amount of low value non-recyclable waste, andensuring that waste is collected andreused/recycled/composted to achieve its highesteconomic value possible.

2. To seek to maximise, where appropriate, the local economic benefit from the Council’sprocurement processes for waste services and support the inclusion of recycled or reusedcontent where practical in supplierspecifications.

3. Encourage investment in Zero Wasteopportunities in the Council area.

Improving Waste and Resource ManagementInfrastructure:1. To continue the Proximity and Self Sufficiency

Principles applied to waste management withinthe Council area.

2. The Council’s economic development andplanning functions should prioritise wasteprevention over reuse and recycling, whereverpossible, to minimise overall infrastructurerequirements.

3. To use the Council’s influence, planning, andeconomic development policies to encourage theright mix of waste infrastructure beingdeveloped to meet future targets, focusing uponhigh value reprocessing and recyclingopportunities.

Managing Non-Recyclable Waste (Residual Waste):1. To minimise the amount of non-recyclable waste

requiring treatment in line with the WasteHierarchy.

2. To adopt a policy of Zero Waste going directly tolandfill, i.e. any non-recyclable waste must betreated to extract any remaining value before theresidual element is landfilled.

3. Continue the policy of a flexible approach to the procurement of residual waste treatment,utilising short to medium term contracts toensure that the Council can respond to futurechanges in regulation and taxation.

4. To reduce the environmental impact from the Council’s waste management legacy sites where practical and feasible.

Falkirk Council has become atop waste managementperformer in Scotland,however the next steps inthe Zero Waste journey willbe very challenging.

3.1 The Council’s Waste Management Plans

The Council’s previous strategy was the Forth Valley Area Waste Plan (2003) and the Forth ValleyStrategic Outline Case (2006). These joint plans withStirling Council & Clackmannanshire Council soughtto reduce the amount of Municipal Solid Waste(MSW) going to landfill and, in particular, to achieveEuropean Union Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC)targets to reduce Biodegradable Municipal Waste(BMW) material being landfilled.

The Forth Valley Area Waste Plan (AWP) was alignedto the National Waste Plan (2003) and focused onimplementing the Best Practical EnvironmentalOption (BPEO), with a range of recycling and wasteprevention measures to reduce waste production andthe amount of waste going to landfill. The BPEO wassupported by funding from the national StrategicWaste Fund (SWF). The Council successfullyimplemented the plan’s targets and actions, andmany of the principles are still relevant today.However the introduction of the ScottishGovernment’s Zero Waste Plan in 2010, brought afocus on all waste rather than just Municipal Waste.

The Forth Valley Strategic Outline Case (SOC) in 2006detailed how the Council intended to meet the longterm EU Landfill Directive targets up to 2020. TheScottish Executive provided funding for a range ofextra recycling collections and encouraged the ForthValley Councils to work with Fife and Perth & Kinrossin a joint procurement of a non-recyclable wastetreatment facility. This work was superseded by thenew ‘Zero Waste’ approach in January 2008, whichsignalled the abandonment of large scale non-recyclable waste treatment solutions and affirmedthe earlier Forth Valley BPEO approach.

The Forth Valley Councils have focused on wasteprevention action, maximising recyclate & organicwaste capture, before finally considering non-recyclable waste treatment. Therefore this new Zero Waste Strategy is a further, evolution of theCouncil’s approach.

3.2 Performance to date

Currently Falkirk is one of the top performers forrecycling/composting within Scotland’s 32 localauthorities with a rate of 54.2% for the period April2011 – March 20122 for Household waste.

In April 2011 the national recycling/compostingperformance measurement changed to measureHousehold waste only and the Commercial wastecollected by Councils has now been excluded. Thischange has been made to bring Scotland’sperformance measurement into line with EUrequirements.

The long term trend in performance for the Council,recorded using SEPA data, is shown in Chart 1opposite. The chart shows what method was used tomanage the total waste collected and it includesHousehold and Commercial waste in order to showthe long term trend.

Chart 1 Falkirk Council Recycling Performance(Local Authority Collected Waste)

Chart 2 below show the total waste arising that wascollected by the Council. During the time periodshown in the chart the total waste arising collectedpeaked. This was in the 2005/06 year at 115,257tonnes. Thereafter the total waste declined to 90,309tonnes in year 2011/12. This represents a reduction of22% and compares very favourably to an averagereduction of 8.6% for Scotland’s local authorities as awhole during the period 2004/05 to 2010/11 (derivedfrom SEPA annual reports for all 32 Councils3).

Chart 2 Falkirk Council Waste Arising (Local Authority Collected Waste)

The total waste arising in the Council area has beenaffected by a range of factors such as changes inpopulation, the number of households, and theeconomic downturn. Waste arising can be reduced bywaste prevention actions, such as the use of lightweight packaging, greater levels of homecomposting, reductions in “junk” mail, and whenwaste material avoids the Council’s waste collectionsystems altogether, for example when clothes aredonated directly to charity shops for reuse.

While the Council has successfully undertaken arange of waste prevention actions it is unclearwhether the downward trend of waste arising willcontinue. It is unclear how much of the downwardtrend over the last five years is a result of theeconomic downturn or how much is long termchange due to the waste prevention actions taken bythe Council and national bodies such as Zero WasteScotland.

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2 SEPA Waste Data Flow Annual summary3 SEPA Waste Data – Local Authority Collected Waste reporting

Perhaps the most significant drivers of the increasein the total waste arising are population andhousehold growth. The most recent projections,using 2010 National Records of Scotland populationprojections, are that Falkirk’s population will growby 10.1% between 2010 and 2033 from 153,280 to168,6884. This matches an expected 10.2% increase inScotland’s population as a whole. Chart 3 belowshows the predicted population changes for allCouncil areas.

Chart 3Project percentage change in population (2010 based) by Council area 2010-2035

The Scottish Government predicts that on averagethe number of households will increase by 23%across all Council areas in the period of 2010-20355.The trend in the growth of household numbers isdriven by more adults living alone, which is generallyaccompanied by an increase in waste production percapita. Research suggests that the average personliving alone will produce twice as much waste as aperson living in a household which has five or sixpeople6.

Given the above average projections for householdand population growth it will be challenging for theCouncil to halt or reverse growth in total wastearising in the short term, especially if there is also anupturn in economic growth. For this reason it maybe best to focus upon measuring future performancein terms of the kilograms of waste produced perhousehold per annum, rather than the total wastearising.

3.3 Waste CompositionPeriodic analysis of non-recycled waste, oftenreferred to as “black bag waste”, is undertaken bythe Council with assistance from Zero WasteScotland. This analysis helps to establish whatmaterials are not being recycled and enables thetargeting of communication to help reduce theamount of recyclable material that is mistakenlytreated as non-recyclable waste by householders andbusinesses. It also assists in the design and planning

of processes for the collection and treatment of thewaste.

The most recent analysis for the Council area in2010/11 shows that a significant proportion ofrecyclable waste is still being placed in Green bins asnon-recyclable waste, ending up in landfill. Forexample the analysis showed that, despite the paperand card collection offered via the Blue Bin service inFalkirk, around 14% of the waste by weight in Greenbins is recyclable paper and card. Across the areathis is equivalent to 4,945 tonnes of paper and cardunnecessarily landfilled per year.

Chart 4 below shows the percentage breakdown foreach material identified in the Council’s wasteanalysis.

Chart 4 Falkirk Waste Analysis 2010/11*

*The “Other household items” category includes a rangeof waste items including textiles, shoes, nappies,furniture and rubble. HHW is Household HazardousWaste which includes batteries, light bulbs andhazardous chemicals. WEEE is Waste Electronic andElectrical Equipment and “Fines” are small pieces ofwaste that are not able to be identified for sorting intoany of the other categories.

It is clear that there is still more to be done toensure recyclable and compostable material isappropriately separated for collection and onwardrecycling.

During 2010/11 Zero Waste Scotland funded theCouncil to undertake a study into the Impact ofTargeted Campaigns on Kerbside Recycling andResidual Waste Arising. This showed that targeted

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36% Ki tchen Organics23% Paper and Card15% Other Household Items6% Plastic Film6% Dense Plastic3% Packaging Glass2% Pet Care Wastes2% Ferrous Metal

2% HHW2% Fines1% WEEE1% Non Ferrous Metal1% Liquid Waste0% Non Packaging Glass

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4 Scottish Population Projections for Scottish Areas 2010-based,published 29 February 2012

5 National Records of Scotland, Household Projections for Scotland 2010-based, Published on 14 June 2012

6 The Open University Household Waste Study, FactsheetNo 2, Factors which influence Household WasteGeneration, October 2008

8

advice and encouragement could reduce the amountof recyclates and food waste in non-recycled waste.In the longer term it is recognised that greatereducation and awareness to promote waste sortingused in tandem with appropriate enforcementmeasures will be required to achieve future recyclingtargets and reduce waste management costs.

The Council is committed to further WasteComposition studies to monitor performance figuresto measure its progress on the path to Zero Wasteand inform its service design and planning.

Householder non-participation with the Council’srecycling initiatives is the single greatest threat tomeeting future targets and can severely limit thecost effectiveness of the service provided. It shouldbe recognised that apart from general wasteawareness campaigns, and targeted intervention toimprove material capture rates, participation isessential on both environmental and economicgrounds.

3.4 Scope of the New Strategy

In line with the new national policy the strategy willaddress “all” waste arising in the Council area ratherthan just municipal waste. However it is noted thatinformation on commercial and industrial waste inthe Council area is currently limited and so thishinders target setting. It is hoped that this issue willbe addressed in the medium term by the actionscontained in the Waste Data Strategy published bySEPA. This also means that all waste collected by theCouncil (and the waste it produces itself) will bewithin the scope of the strategy. The strategysummarises current arrangements for wastemanagement and sets out the actions that will benecessary for the Council to move towards the visionof a Zero Waste society over a period of 10 years.

The new Strategy will be used to guide futuredecision-making by the Council, mapping out a wayforward in terms of:• achieving national recycling and composting

targets;

• initiatives to control waste arising and wastegrowth;

• potential partnership arrangements, economicand community benefits;

• determining the way forward for theprocurement of residual waste treatment;

• determining future resource implications forwaste management;

• determining the gaps in infrastructure.

The successful delivery of the Strategy will requireinvolvement, consultation and engagement acrossall sectors. This includes the support of otherservices across the Council, as well as CommunityPlanning Partners, Scottish Government, Zero WasteScotland, the community sector, businesses andhouseholders.

Householders non-participation with theCouncils recyclinginitiatives can severelylimit the costeffectiveness of theservice provided.

Recent analysis ofwaste within Councilgreen bins showed thataround 14% by weightis recyclable paperand card. This isunnecessarilylandfilled.

4.1 The European Context

The European Union (EU) has established a numberof Directives aimed at harmonising waste policiesthroughout Europe, guaranteeing environmentalprotection and supporting economic growththrough resource efficiency. The following EUdirectives have strongly influenced national wastemanagement policy and have led to the introductionof several new pieces of national legislation.

The Waste Framework Directive

In December 2008, the revised Waste FrameworkDirective 2008/98/EC came into force. This providesthe overarching structure for waste policy andlegislation across EU member states. It introducedthe first EU wide recycling targets. By 2020 MemberStates must:

• reuse or recycle 50 per cent of household waste(this includes composting of organic wastes)

• reuse, recycle or recover 70 per cent of non-hazardous construction & demolition waste.

• produce a Waste Prevention Plan and to have aNational Waste Management Plan (NWMP) inplace.

Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan sets the national policystructure to implement the Directive in Scotland.The Scottish Government has recently consulted ona new programme, Safeguarding Scotland’sResources – A Programme for the Efficient Use ofOur Materials, which will form the basis of anational Waste Prevention Plan.

The rWFD has reaffirmed the waste hierarchy as acore policy principle. Figure 1 below shows adepiction of the waste hierarchy with the mostpreferred solution for waste being the top[Prevention] segment of the pyramid and thebottom [Disposal] segment being the least preferredsolution.

Figure 1 – The Waste Hierarchy7

The Waste Management Licensing (Scotland)Regulations 2011 translates the rWFD into Scots law.Schedule 4 provides a statutory duty on localauthorities to implement the waste hierarchy. Thegovernment is proposing to issue further guidanceon this duty and how it may be discharged. Localauthorities will have to ensure that recyclates andcompostable material collected are directed to thehighest value use in order to comply with thisguidance. This will have implications for the designof future collection systems and enforcement as newmaterial standards are required to be met. Councilswill also be required to show how they havecomplied with the hierarchy in a BiannualStatement. This will be linked to the Council’sClimate Change reporting framework.

The Landfill Directive

The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) requires aprogressive reduction in the landfilling ofbiodegradable municipal waste (BMW) and the pre-treatment of wastes before landfilling, in order toreduce waste volume and minimise theenvironmental impact of disposal. The LandfillDirective sets targets and timescales for reducingthe amount of biodegradable municipal waste(BMW) sent to landfill. For the UK these are asfollows:• 75% of 1995 levels by 2010

• 50% of 1995 levels by 2013

• 35% of 1995 levels by 2020

Prior to the rWFD the Landfill Directive was theprime driver for national policy. To help implementthe targets in the Directive the Landfill AllowanceScheme (LAS) was developed to manage individualBMW targets for each Council in Scotland.

The overall impact of this target regime on localauthorities has been diluted due to the UK definitionof Municipal Waste being broadened to also includewaste collected by private waste management

Key Drivers4

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Prevention:If you can’t prevent, then,

Prepare for reuse: If you can’t reuse, then

Recycle:If you can’t recycle, then

Recover other value (e..g. energy): If you can’t recycle, then

Disposal: Landfill if no alternative.

7 Waste Hierarchy Diagram adapted from the ScottishGovernments Policy Statement, Zero Waste Regulations,October 2011

companies. The Directive’s targets have also nowbeen overtaken by Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan andthe Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012. These willban biodegradable material going to landfillcompletely. This means that the Council will nolonger be required to comply with the LAS in thefuture.

Other targeted Directives

There are a range of European Directives that targetparticular materials and will place obligations on theproducers of those materials. ProducerResponsibility schemes, such as those for End of LifeVehicles (ELVs), Waste Electrical & ElectronicEquipment (WEEE), and Batteries will all impact insome way upon the Council’s waste managementactivities and increasingly on the activities ofmanufacturers in the area.

4.2 The National Context

The Scottish Government use the structure set byEU policy and the associated Directives to provide anational framework for the regulation of waste. Thekey components are:

Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan

The Zero Waste Plan for Scotland was published inJune 2010 setting a new vision for how waste will bemanaged in the future. The Zero Waste Planproposes that discarded materials are treated as aresource rather than a waste, and introduces a rangeof radical new measures that go further than therWFD, including:• landfill bans for specific waste types, such as

organics, aiming to reduce greenhouse gasemissions and capturing their value as a resourcefor the economy;

• mandatory separate collections of specific wastetypes, including food (to avoid contaminatingother materials and ensure high qualityrecyclates for reprocessing) and commercialcollections;

• new targets that will apply to all waste, a 70%recycling target and a maximum of 5% sent tolandfill, both by 2025;

• restrictions on the material input to all energyfrom waste (EfW) facilities with mandatoryextraction of dense plastics and metals prior totreatment;

• development of a Waste Prevention Programmefor all wastes, making prevention and reusecentral to actions and policies;

• measuring the carbon impacts of waste using aCarbon Metric to prioritise the recycling ofresources which offer the greatestenvironmental and climate change mitigationbenefits.

The key targets are set out in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Zero Waste Plan Targets 8

Also flowing from the actions in the Zero Waste Planare a range of new regulations and associated plans/programmes; the key ones are covered below.

Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012

These regulations are designed to help support theimplementation of the Zero Waste Plan. Theregulations will implement the landfill bans andrecyclate/food waste separate collectionrequirements proposed in the Zero Waste Plan andintroduce:

• the requirement for local authorities to offerseparate collection of glass, metals, plastics,paper, card, and food waste to householders andbusinesses in their area;

• the mandatory separation of recyclates and foodwaste by businesses and other organisations;

• a biannual report for local authorities, developedin partnership with the Convention of ScottishLocal Authorities (CoSLA), to buildunderstanding and trust with the public onwaste management within their area.

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Legislative, financial andenvironmental impacts are thekey driving forces behindFalkirk Council becoming moreresource efficient.

8 Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan, Annex A - Zero WasteTargets and Data Needs page 20, June 2011

Target/Cap Year Derivation

40% recycling/composting 2010 Scottishand preparing for re-use of Governmentwaste from households. target.

No more than 2.7 million 2010 Article 5(2)tonnes of biodegradable of the EUmunicipal waste to be sent Landfill Directive.to landfill.

50% recycling/composting 2013 Scottishand preparing for re-use of Governmentwaste from households target.

The preparing for re-use and 2020 Article 11(2)athe recycling of 50% by weight of the EUof waste materials such as Waste Frameworkpaper, metal, plastic and glass Directive.from household wasteand similar.

No more than 1.8 million 2013 Article 5(2)tonnes of biodegradable of the EUmunicipal waste to be sent Landfillto landfill. Directive.

60% recycling/composting 2020 Scottishand preparing for re-use of Governmentwaste from households. target.

No more than 1.26 million 2020 Article 5(2)tonnes of biodegradable of the EUmunicipal waste to be sent Landfillto landfill. Directive.

70% recycling and preparing 2020 Article 11(2)(b)for re-use of construction and of the reviseddemolition waste. EU Waste

Framework Directive.

No more than 5% of all 2025 Scottishwaste to go to landfill. Government target

70% recycling/composting 2025 Scottishand preparing for re-use of Governmentall waste by 2025. target.

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The timeline for the proposed bans and separationrequirements is set out in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Timeline for Separate Collections andLandfill Bans9

Other Guidance

Further guidance has been issued by the ScottishGovernment in addition to the 2012 regulations. Thisincludes:• the application of the Waste Hierarchy for

collections and waste treatment to ensure thequality of recyclate material is maintained, andin particular how comingled recyclate collectionsshould comply with its requirements;

• the Duty of Care to support the new regulations;

• a Kerbside Good Practice Guide to ensure wastecollections use the best practice approach.

The government will develop further qualitystandards or codes of practice for recycling ifrequired and at the time of publication is consultingon a Quality Action Plan for the operation ofMaterial Recycling Facilities (MRFs).

Carbon Metric

The Carbon Metric is a new system for measuringthe carbon performance of waste managementmethods. Under the new system, tonnage diversionlevels will be weighted by applying a ‘carbon factor’to the materials collected. This takes into accountthe environmental benefits of recycling materialscompared to sending them to landfill. It uses thecarbon dioxide emissions saved as a “proxy” for thewider environmental impact of waste. This isbelieved to be the first attempt anywhere in theworld to apply climate change weightings to wastemanagement performance measurement.

The new system will help to prioritise the materialsand waste management options needed to reach thetarget for 70% recycling by 2025. In particular it willprioritise materials with a high carbon impact suchas plastics, which currently have relatively low levelsof recycling in Scotland.

The Metric is focused on recycling impacts, althougha separate Carbon Metric may also be developed forreuse impacts in the future. The Carbon Metric willbe reported on a national basis.

Safeguarding Scotland’s Resources

The government’s proposed Waste Prevention Plan,Safeguarding Scotland’s Resources has beenconsulted upon in 2012. It is proposed at this pointthat this will set targets for the reduction in totalwaste arising for Scotland (15% reduction in totalwaste arising by 2025) as well as introducing a rangeof new waste prevention& resource efficiencyactions or obligations. In addition it could also pavethe way for the introduction of greater use ofScottish specific Producer Responsibility andvoluntary waste reduction agreements withinvarious industry sectors. This may have thebeneficial impact of reducing the quantity of wastethat has to be collected by the Council. TheSafeguarding Scotland's Resources consultation alsoincludes a more joined up and targeted supportprogramme for businesses to help them improvetheir resource efficiency.

31/12/2013 Source segregationBusinesses: presentdry recyclables (allbusinesses) andfood waste (mediumto large businesses)for collection.*

Local Authorities:offer dry recyclablescollection serviceand begin roll out offood waste.

31/12/2013 BansBan on mixingsources segregatedmaterials.Ban on landfilling andincinerating sourcesegregated materials.

31/12/2015 Source segregationBusinesses: presentfood waste (smallbusinesses) forcollection.*

Local Authorities:complete roll out offood wastecollection.

31/12/2015 BansRequirement toremove dense plasticsand metals fromresidual waste prior toincineration (existingfacilities).**

31/12/2020 BansBan onbiodegradeable

Today

* Applies to businesses involved in food production, foodretail or food preparation.** For few facilities, this requirement will come into effecton commencement of the regulations

We all have toappreciate that thethings we buy, use andthrow away are potentialresources that have avalue that should beused again whereverpossible, enabling us tobecome more resourceefficient.

9 Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan, Annex A - Zero Waste Targets and Data Needs page 20, June 2011

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Producer Responsibility

In the UK targets exist for the recycling and recovery of packaging waste as part of ProducerResponsibility Regulations i.e. the producers of thematerial pay for the cost of collection and recoveryof the waste from their product; this cost isultimately paid for by consumers purchasing theproduct. With few exceptions most of the costscurrently associated with collecting and recyclingwaste falls upon local authorities. A recent report forthe Scottish Government found that manymanufacturer/producer companies relied on localauthorities providing waste collection and sortingservices, and therefore at the moment tax-payers are supporting waste producers. The introduction of measures to address this situation and extendproducer responsibility to the benefit of council taxpayers therefore makes sense.

Linked to producer responsibility obligations is thepossible introduction of Deposit Return Schemesand Reverse Vending in Scotland. Such schemesprovide consumers with a small payment or loyaltyreward for the return of containers such asplastic/glass bottles and cans. If such schemes wereintroduced and adopted by mainstream retailers inScotland the amount of this kind of material beingcollected by the Council in recyclate collectionscould decrease significantly, as well as reducing thelevels of this type of material in litter. A furtherproposed measure that could reduce litter andresource use is the complete ban on single usecarrier bags, or the introduction of a carrier bagcharge at point of sale.

This potential decline in recyclate materialscollected is expected to occur with other wastematerials such as textiles. As the internationalmarket price for used clothes rises more businessesare expected to offer cash for used clothes, and sowe can expect this material to decline in the wastestream as householders are encouraged to sell theirunwanted clothes.

Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009

Waste issues are a significant element of the ClimateChange Act. Over the last ten years there have beenmajor reductions in emissions from the waste sectordue to the reduced landfilling of biodegradablewaste. Continued improvement to reduce emissionswill be more challenging as landfill becomes asmaller element of the solution to waste.

Chapter 5 of the Act contains provisions whichenable Scottish Ministers to make regulationsrelating to the acquisition of accurate informationabout waste, and the promotion of waste reductionand recycling by different methods. There are arange of other provisions including targets for thereduction of packaging, and for the introduction ofDeposit and Return Schemes, as well as charges forthe supply of carrier bags.

Depending upon future implementation these havethe potential to impact upon the Council’s wastemanagement services. In addition Part 4 of theClimate Change Act applies duties to public bodiesto make decisions that will further the aims of theAct.

“A public body must, in exercising its functions, act inthe way best calculated to contribute to the delivery ofthe targets set in… this Act.”

Section 44 of the Act places three climate changeduties on public bodies in Scotland and containspowers to enable Scottish Ministers to create furtherduties. The current duties on require that a publicbody must act:

• in the way best calculated to contribute to theemissions reduction targets;

• in the way best calculated to deliver anystatutory adaptation programme; and

• in a way that it considers most sustainable.

4.3 The Local Context

The Council faces significant challenges in thedevelopment of a Zero Waste policy during adifficult financial and economic context. It isanticipated that the economic downturn and itseffects of public finances will take many years toresolve. The Council’s new Corporate Plan 2012-17indicates that it is likely that there will be real termsgrant cuts during that period. The Plan recognisesthe challenges this presents and that the Councilmust work as One Council, in an integrated andtargeted manner to meet the needs of itscommunities and ensure that Best Value ismaintained in its service provision. In particular thePlan recognises the need to achieve carbonreduction and move towards Zero Waste.

The Council has a duty to provide Best Value, a dutyto comply with Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, aduty to meet the requirements of the ClimateChange Act and now also a requirement to complywith the Waste Hierarchy and the subsequentguidance issued on it. Some of these public dutieshave potential to conflict, e.g. the requirement tocollect food waste by virtue of the Waste (Scotland)Regulations 2012, increases the level of service at atime of severe budget restrictions and may appear toconflict with the Best Value duty. However inpractice best value requires the Council to dischargeits duties, in a way which contributes to theachievement of sustainable development. Theseparation of food waste has social, economic andenvironmental benefits that will outweigh the shortterm economic issues and therefore can be justifiedas providing best value.

The Council has made significant progress inrecycling its waste and has been at the forefront ofinitiatives to move towards Zero Waste. It now faceschallenges to make a significant push towards ZeroWaste and must do so in the face of the financial,economic and demographic pressures. It must helpprepare households for the additional measures thatwill be necessary. Local recycling campaigns havebeen very well received and successful in gaining thesupport of householders and these must besustained. The Council must also work inpartnership with local business, preparing them forthe additional measures that will be required toreduce, re-use and recycle. This may presentopportunities for some local businesses and, wherefeasible, it will be important to assist business toexploit this potential.

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4.4 Financial Drivers

Clearly the financial drivers for the strategy arecritical to its success. The projected constraints toCouncil budgets coincides with increased costs forlandfill, thus reinforcing the financial drive towardsrecycling. The landfill tax escalator increases thestandard rate of landfill tax by £8 per tonne perannum until April 2014 when Landfill Tax will reach£80 per tonne. In comparison, the average cost ofdisposal by landfill, known as the ‘gate fee’ iscurrently around £18 per tonne10. This chargecompares with alternatives to landfill for non–recyclable waste: £79 estimated for MechanicalBiological Treatment (MBT); and £82 for incineration(a form of Energy from Waste - EfW).

Funding provided by the Scottish Governmentthrough the Revenue Support Grant makes noprovision for increasing landfill tax costs to localauthorities, therefore this places an increasingexpenditure pressure on the Council. It reinforcesthe need to reduce materials going into the wastestream and ensure where possible that materialcollected is recycled or composted. Audit Scotland’slocal authority performance indicators11 show thatthe average net cost of Waste Collection & Disposalper premise for Scotland’s 32 local authorities roseby 11% over the last 4 years (from £147.93 in 2008/09to £164.26 in 2011/12). This is despite reducing wastequantities and the increasing percentage of materialrecycled or composted during that period.

4.5 Tools for the Council to achieve Zero Waste

Whilst the challenges above are many, the Councilhas been highly successful in meeting pastchallenges in relation to sustainable wastemanagement. Councils have a range of tools at theirdisposal to meet the new challenges and FalkirkCouncil has adopted many of these. The tools are:

• Waste collection services offered to householdersand businesses.

• Education and awareness activities, includingwaste prevention messages for householders,businesses, schools, and the Council’s staff.

• Minimising Council produced waste andmanaging what is produced in line with bestpractice.

• Using regulatory powers in an enforcement roleand to reinforce the “polluter pays” principle toachieve compliance with its waste and recyclingservices.

• Embedding Zero Waste Policy into Councilactivities including procurement functions.

• Planning Policy – encouraging new investment inthe area which provides the correct mix of newresource management infrastructure.

• Economic Development Support – targeting theCouncil’s services and partnerships in this area toassist local businesses to move towards ZeroWaste, managing their waste issues andinvesting appropriately in the waste sector.

• Attracting grant funding – targeting fundingsupport for Zero Waste Projects and embeddingappropriate Zero Waste criteria in all grantfunding.

• Community Planning – demonstrating clearleadership on Zero Waste that enables others tofollow and gain the benefits and embedding ZeroWaste targets in the Single Outcome Agreement

• Partnership working with other Councils, thethird sector, and businesses to createopportunities with environmental and/oreconomic benefits around waste management.

10 WRAP Gate Fees Report 2012 (landfill rate for Scotland,average MBT rate, and average post 2000 facilities EfW rate)

11 Derived from Audit Scotland Local Authority PerformanceIndicator 23 (2011/12 and 2010/11)

The use of our resourcesis our sharedresponsibility.

Main Issues addressed by the Strategy 5

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Flowing from the drivers and challenges previouslyindicated, a range of Main Issues have beenidentified and for each of these a number of policyobjectives and actions are set out.

Issue 1: Climate ChangeThe creation and management of waste is a majorcontributor to climate change and the impact ofwaste management may be greater than many otherenergy related emissions under the control of theCouncil. Local authorities do not directly controlwaste production but they can exert some influenceon it.

The release of methane, which is 24 times morepotent than carbon dioxide as a Green House Gas(GHG), is a major contributor to climate change.Methane emissions to the atmosphere originatingfrom landfill sites are being reduced throughincreased recycling and composting, treatment ofnon-recyclable waste and a Waste (Scotland)Regulations 2012 ban on organic waste going tolandfill sites.

It is anticipated that over time, the emphasis ofperformance monitoring on waste management willmove from the current, simple, waste tonnagemeasurement approach to one where performanceis based more on overall Climate Change impact. Asa result there will be greater emphasis on therecycling of waste materials that have a highembedded carbon impact and which score highly onthe Carbon Metric; examples of these materials aremetals, plastics and textiles. This will require theCouncil to be adaptable and flexible as it focuses itscollection efforts on capturing a high percentage ofthese materials within the mix of recyclates in orderto meet the 70% target.

The reporting of the climate change emissions andthe impact from waste reduction measures will alsobe included in the Council’s corporate performancereporting including its Sustainability and ClimateChange Strategy.

At the same time, in order to comply with the publicduty under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009,emissions from the transport and collection of wastewill need to be tackled through the efficient designof any new collections and the procurement ofefficient vehicles. The Act also aims to encouragegreater levels of recycling away from the home andworkplace through “Recycling on the Go”. In practicethis means providing the opportunity to recyclematerials in public places such as high streets,shopping centres and other public venues - ameasure strongly supported by a survey of Falkirkresidents. This ensures that waste is treated as aresource in all locations and reinforces the behaviourchange required by all of us to achieve a Zero WasteSociety.

Climate Change

Policy Objectives:1. Minimise the environmental and climate change

impacts from waste management activities.

2. Use the national Carbon Metric, WasteHierarchy, and other relevant carbon accountingtools for decision making purposes.

The actions are:

1. Design and implement Council waste relatedservices to address the Climate Change(Scotland) Act 2009 (CCA) duty to reduce theoverall emissions from waste operations.Complete by December 2014.

2. Encourage measures for the recycling of wastematerials that have a high embedded carbonimpact.

3. Ensure the ongoing procurement of moreefficient vehicles and measure the changes inperformance. This will be incorporated intoannual progress reporting.

4. Support the development of new “Recycling onthe Go” infrastructure by the Council, TownCentre Management organisations andinterested stakeholders based on the bestpractice guidance from Zero Waste Scotland.Complete a network of sites for the Council areaby December 2017 with first sites introduced in2013.

Issue 2: Preventing Waste

Household waste is the main component of thewaste collected by the Council and has shown adeclining trend. However with the significantprojected growth in population and an increasingnumber of households towards 2025 this situation isunlikely to continue, assuming these growthprojections materialise.

The Scottish Government has met its initial target ofthe stabilisation in waste growth by 2010. It isexpected that future waste reduction targets will beset as part of the Safeguarding Scotland’s Resourcesprogramme. A 15% reduction in total waste arising isproposed for 2025.

Previous waste growth estimates prepared for the2003 Area Waste Plan suggested a 1.5% per annumgrowth in total waste arising in the medium to longterm; although the total waste arising has stabilisedacross Scotland in 2010. In light of these previousestimates, and given the limited tools available tothe Council to prevent waste, it would be logical toset a waste arising reduction target based on wasteper household, as well as an overall tonnage figure.

The Council has supported a wide range of wasteprevention and resource efficiency actions including:targeted education provided to schools, support forEco Schools projects; funding and promotion ofadvice/support for Home Composting, ReusableNappies and Mail Preference (junk mail) activities;and an extensive public awareness campaign.

Support for further actions will continue. A key areawill be to encourage local businesses to arrange takeback schemes for material they have a producerresponsibility for, such as waste electricalequipment, batteries and packaging.

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Preventing waste reduces theCouncils waste disposal andhandling costs and householderssave directly by buying orusing only what they need.

Preventing Waste

Policy objectives:1. To champion waste minimisation within the

community thereby reducing costs to theCouncil, households, and the business sector andlimiting the environmental impact of waste.

2. To work with the Scottish Government, ZeroWaste Scotland and waste producers to reducethe amount of waste created.

The actions are:1. Set a total waste arising reduction target, on a

per household basis, after considering theactions and targets proposed in the SafeguardingScotland’s Resources Programme. This targetshould be set by December 2013 using thebaseline identified by the SafeguardingScotland’s Resources Programme.

2. Support the Scottish Government’s efforts onimproved producer responsibility obligations forScotland, including reducing the burden on theCouncil.

3. Support greater levels of reuse for targetedmaterials through the design of the Council’swaste management services. Targeted “reuse”materials and products to be identified and aReuse Action Plan, (including training andemployment opportunities), to be developed byDecember 2013.

4. To exert influence on suppliers and externalstakeholders to adopt waste reduction targetsand Zero Waste principles, for example byencouraging greater use of Site WasteManagement Plans for new construction projectsor promoting business sector “Zero Wastepledges”. To be implemented through theCommunity Planning Partnership, andsupplementary planning guidance by December2014.

5. Improved signposting for local businesses toResource Efficient Scotland through theCouncil’s waste services, business support andregulatory functions in order to assist localbusinesses reduce the amount of waste theygenerate and implement the Waste (Scotland)Regulations 2012. This will be in place bySeptember 2013.

6. Ensure that the future design and procurementof collection services and recycling/reprocessingservices is fully compliant with the wastehierarchy guidance, maximises the quality andvalue of the collected material, and encourages“closed loop” recycling markets where possible.

Issue 3: Leadership and Engagement on Waste & Resource Use

The Council will continue to show leadership to itscommunity, as it did when the Area Waste Plan wasfirst launched and the first recycling systems wereintroduced to households. This new Strategypromotes a further step change with a new drivetowards the creation of Zero Waste communitieswith a recognition that waste materials are valuableresources. Key to the strategy’s success will beaction taken by the Council to reduce the waste itproduces and to support communities andbusinesses to tackle all waste issues – to reduce,reuse and recycle.

Leading by Example

The Council cannot expect householders andbusinesses to commit to the drive towards ZeroWaste without its services leading the way. The ZeroWaste Strategy will steer Council policy and beembraced by all services. This is in the context of thestatutory duties imposed by the Climate Change(Scotland) Act 2009, Waste (Scotland) Regulations2012 and the statutory guidance on the WasteHierarchy. Key functions where action plans to meetthe new obligations will be required include:Building Maintenance, Facilities and Estates,Architects & Design, Procurement, and CateringServices.

In addition to new obligations to separate wastethere are a range of good practice agreements thatCouncil services can adopt and the Council will workclosely with Zero Waste Scotland to introduce thesemeasures. For example the “half waste to landfill”commitment is relevant to building maintenanceand architects/design functions and offers hands onsupport to help implement good practice on wasteand reduce costs. New voluntary agreements maysoon extend to other sectors to help these functionscomply with the new Waste (Scotland) Regulations2012 and gain the associated economic benefits. Theadoption of these agreements by the Council,supported by Zero Waste Scotland, will helpencourage local business to follow a similar path andlead to economic and environmental benefits whilereducing costs. These actions will further support the Council’s commitment to reducegreenhouse gases under the Scottish ClimateChange Declaration. There are also changes plannedfor procurement processes arising from theGovernment’s Procurement Reform Bill. Table 2 onpage 16 summarises the main impacts on theCouncil’s own services.

Linking to Other Plans and Strategies

The Zero Waste strategy connects strongly with theCouncil’s corporate planning framework includingrelated strategies, policies and plans on LocalDevelopment, Litter, Procurement, SustainableDevelopment, Climate Change, Service Plans andOutcome Agreements, as well as the Zero WastePlan at a national level, to ensure they incorporatethe Zero Waste objectives and help contributetowards a Zero Waste Society. Incorporation of ZeroWaste policies in Service Plans will assist inmainstreaming the Council’s approach across itsservices.

Table 2 Assessment of the impact of Zero Waste on Council services.

In addition to the table above there will also be arequirement to update the Supplementary PlanningGuidance in relation to, amongst other things, therequirements for waste storage space in newhousing and commercial development. Ensuringproperly designed waste storage and access at theplanning stage of new build, or change of use,prevents future problems of nuisance, such as binson street, and helps assist compliance with theWaste Hierarchy and Waste (Scotland) Regulations2012.

Support to Local Communities

Local authorities can support local communities totake action through funding projects and providingadvice and guidance. The Council facilitates ZeroWaste volunteer schemes within the community andstaff from the Council provide guidance and adviceon resource management issues to the businesssector.

Funding for community led projects has becomemore restricted as a result of the constraints onpublic expenditure in recent years. The Council hasits own grant programmes, and in addition, underthe Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) scheme aproportion of the Council's landfill tax is refunded tothe Falkirk Environment Trust (FET). Currently,under HMRC rules, the funds from the Trust arerestricted to particular categories of projects. Theseare targeted at general improvement of the physical

environment, for example category OBJECT D: Theprovision, maintenance or improvement of a publicpark or other general public amenity. As previouslythis funding cannot be directly invested in recyclingor waste prevention schemes.

Trusts currently claim 6.2% of the Council’s landfilltax payments (HMRC rules).This gives the Council’slandfill contract operators, Avondale EnvironmentalLtd a 90% tax credit on this proportion of the tax.The refunded payments on the Council’s tax may besupplemented by landfill tax contributions fromother users of local landfill sites. However under thenew Zero Waste Plan target regime; landfill disposalwill drop to 5% of waste arising by 2025.

Under proposals in the Scotland Bill, landfill tax willbe devolved to the Scottish Government by 2015.While landfill is expected to decline significantly,several other European countries have taxes onother waste treatments such as EfW as well aslandfill; this is to further encourage wasteprevention, reuse and recycling in preference toenergy recovery. Therefore, it is possible, dependingon the approach taken by the Scottish Governmentin the future, that this area of taxation could raisesubstantial revenue for local communities.

With the new national policy emphasis on ZeroWaste, grant schemes and Environmental Trustcontributions could be further encouraged tosupport projects targeted at achieving Zero WasteCommunities. This approach could utilise theprinciples of leverage to access other sources offunding.

Leadership and Engagement on Waste & Resource Use

Policy objectives:1. Council policies, strategies and plans should

recognise the new Zero Waste national policyframework.

2. The Council will continue to maximise theopportunities to attract funding to furthersupport Zero Waste projects.

3. The Council will continue to develop beneficialservice opportunities with other councils andZero Waste Scotland, as well as private and thirdsector partners.

4. The Council will encourage and supportCommunity Planning Partners and other keyorganisations in the area to adopt Zero Wasteprinciples.

5. The Council will lead by example by continuingto promote a Zero Waste approach and raiseawareness of the need to address waste relatedissues within its communities and withbusinesses.

The actions are:1. Adopt a Zero Waste Strategy.

2. The Council will continue to facilitatevolunteering within their communities intandem with the Zero Waste Scotland volunteerprogramme. This will be an ongoing action.

3. Set service waste reduction targets. This shouldbe in place by December 2013.

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Council Waste Food Separate Changes VoluntaryFunction Reduction Waste Collection to Commitment

Targets Collection for ContractRecyclates Specification

WasteCollection High High High Medium Medium

Schools Medium High High MediumHigh

Facilities Management Low High High Medium Medium

Architects & Design High Low Low High High

Building Maintenance High Low High High High

Roads Maintenance High Low Medium High Medium

Catering Services Medium High High Low High

Grounds Maintenance Medium Low High Medium Low

Procurement Medium Low Low High High

Economic Development Medium High High Medium High

4. The Council will collaborate with, andcoordinate where appropriate, relevant grantfunding schemes, including the Landfill TaxTrust, to ensure that their fundingprogrammes and criteria reflect the movetowards Zero Waste targets and wherepossible there is targeted support for ZeroWaste projects. A scoping study of fundingschemes and the changes required, includingthe possibility of further grant funding forcommunity projects being derived fromCouncil landfill tax savings will be completed.

5. The Council will encourage the ScottishGovernment to provide landfill tax revenue toZero Waste projects under any new landfill taxregime post 2015. This should be actioned viathe Council’s response to any futureconsultations on this issue.

6. The Council will adopt a common approach onthe new policy and regulation framework withZero Waste Scotland, SEPA, and the ScottishGovernment to ensure consistent messagesare given to all businesses and otherstakeholders on the major Zero Waste changesahead. This will be an ongoing action.

7. To maintain a high level of awareness of thekey Zero Waste issues amongst businesses,schools, and householders through the use of awider range of electronic media, innovativeapproaches, and face to face engagement. Thiswill be an ongoing action.

8. Update Supplementary Planning Guidancerelating to waste storage and access mattersfor all planning applications and businessdevelopments to take account of WasteHierarchy and Kerbside Good Practiceguidance. To be completed by December 2013.

9. Adopt relevant Zero Waste Scotland VoluntaryAgreements to reduce waste produced fromthe Council, for example the Half Waste toLandfill commitment for BuildingMaintenance, Construction contracts andDesign functions; and the Hospitality and FoodService Voluntary agreement for catering andevents functions.

10. Ensure appropriate enforcement action istaken where powers exist on littering andflytipping offences to maintain highenvironmental standards and preventenvironmental damage. This will be anongoing action with progress reportedannually.

11. Review and amend where appropriate thelicensing process for Street Traders and PublicEntertainment to ensure compliance with theClimate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and Waste(Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Issue 4: Optimising Services for the Future

The collection services for recyclates and organicmaterial will require to be significantly altered inorder to meet the new national targets set outScotland’s Zero Waste Plan and the requirements ofthe Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012. This changewill require additional resources to implement andoperate new services. Table 3 below summarises thefactors influencing on the Council’s waste services.

Table 3 Factors Impacting on Collection Services

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Drivers Impact on Council collectionsfor ChangeMandatory food Food waste collections require to be provided waste collection - to householders and businesses - additionalWaste (Scotland) resources of manpower, vehicles and Regulations 2012 � containers.

� The capture of food waste separately will mean the non-recyclable waste element, Green Bin material, becomes a much smaller fraction of the collection service. This will necessitate a redesign of services to take account of this change.

� The costs of collections will increase in the short term as the additional services are rolled out.

New material A key range of recyclates must be collectedquality and to ensure compliance.collection standards Waste (Scotland) Some materials may require to be collectedRegulations 2012, differently to optimise their use in high valueKerbside Good reprocessing opportunities e.g. food waste.Practice Guide and forthcoming Contamination of Blue Bin recyclates willQuality Action Plan � have to be minimised to ensure compliance with

material quality standards.�

Greater use of education will be required to achieve the reduced contamination levels and high participation levels. Enforcement may need to be considered to reach the targets required.

�Material collected for recycling or composting must be used for that purpose due to the prohibition from landfilling separately collected waste. The non-recyclable waste (Green Bin) collection can no longer be treated as the prioritycollection over recyclable collections as Blue Bins will fill up quicker e.g. during disruption from severe weather events.

Compliance with The collection of materials will have toWaste Hierarchy be organised in a way that ensures they canand Carbon Metric be used for the highest value purpose e.g. glass measure � collected separately to enable re-melt

rather than collected mixed.�

Collections will need to focus on capturing the materials with the greatest Carbon Metric impact, while minimising transport emissions.

Zero Waste Recyclable material incorrectly placed in thePlan targets � non-recyclable (Green Bin) must be reduced to

near zero to ensure future targets are met.�

Greater use of targeted intervention and enforcement powers and will be required to reduce the loss rate for recyclable material.

Best Value Greater use of intervention / education effort and(where necessary) enforcement powers will be required to reduce the cost of recyclates lost in non-recyclable waste collections.

The Zero Waste Strategycan focus the attention oflocal businesses andhouseholders on the stepchange in waste andresource use.

18 12 Obtainable via the WRAP website athttp://www.wrap.org.uk/content/household-waste-collection-commitment-0

The Redesign of Collection Services

The Council is required to introduce Food WasteCollections for households in line with the Waste(Scotland) Regulations 2012. This is a significantaddition to the current collection services and thenew collection will require some time to becomeestablished. Good progress has been made in theroll-out of this service. The Regulations will alsorequire the Council to change their commercialwaste services to provide separate recycling andfood waste collections for commercial premises.

It should be noted that, in recent waste analysissampling, food waste was found to be more thanone third of the mixed non-recyclable waste inhousehold Green Bins. The removal of this foodwaste material through the new collection servicemeans that the volume and weight of material in theaverage Green Bin is reducing substantially.

In Best Value terms it may no longer be justified tomaintain the current capacity or frequency of theexisting Green Bin collection service, except forspecial cases where householders needs are suchthat specific exemptions would apply, for example onmedical grounds. For these special casesappropriately safeguarded capacity and frequency ofservices would be provided by bespokearrangements.

Reducing the frequency or volume of the non-recyclable waste collection (Green Bin) can increaserecyclate captured by up to a third by incentivisinghouseholders to use the correct collection container.This process has already been successfullyimplemented by the Council when they moved to afortnightly collection for non-recycled material. Theintroduction of food waste collection requires afurther change because the majority of householdwaste material will have been removed from theGreen bin to the Blue bin, Black box and Food Wastecollections.

The new obligations on the Council, at time ofgeneral budget contraction, means thatopportunities for savings are limited. Howeveropportunities to use existing budgets to greatereffect in an “invest to save” approach by increasingparticipation and reducing contamination willreduce costs. Incentivising householders andbusinesses to use the correct waste containers andby adjusting collection frequencies and containercapacities could help offset cost increases.Approximately 7,000 tonnes of recyclable material isnot being recycled by households. If recycledsuccessfully this represents £525,000 per annum ofpotential savings in landfill tax alone.

Material quality is now fundamental to ensuringthat collected materials can be recycled. Newmaterial quality and collection standards are beingdeveloped for recyclate collections as part of a newnational policy framework; this includes nationalguidance on the Waste Hierarchy and Kerbside GoodPractice being developed by Zero Waste Scotland,the Scottish Government and SEPA. The Councilmust ensure it can meet these standards in thefuture or risk being unable to have collectedmaterial reprocessed.

To ensure the quality of collected material theCouncil will have to take robust action to reducecontamination of bins by householders andbusinesses. In addition, the design of collectionsystems will require that high quality materials arecaptured at every stage; for example glass should be

collected by colour so that it can be used for “closedloop” re-melt recycling rather than low grade use inaggregate displacement. The Council will need tostrengthen its current approach to contamination bycontinuing to improve information to householdersthrough a variety of means in a comprehensiveawareness campaign.

Use of enforcement action to secure highparticipation and quality recyclate material willlikely become a necessity, albeit an action (i) of lastresort taken after extensive advice and interventionhas failed or (ii) in situations where there is refusalto comply with recycling services. This may includetreating recyclates in the Green Bin ascontamination.

Improved Customer Engagement - Customer Charter

The requirement to develop more extensivecollection services to meet the new targets andregulations, plus the need to ensure local residentsfully utilise the collection systems and minimise anycontamination, will result in increased expectationson both the Council and from householders &businesses. A clear statement of expectations istherefore a sensible way to address this issue and aCustomer Charter is proposed.

This Charter will clearly explain the expectations of,and duties upon, the Council and what residents andbusinesses can expect from the Council in terms ofservice standards. The Charter will be required toachieve the correct balance between meetingCouncil obligations and the needs of householders &businesses and their responsibilities for their waste.

WRAP has developed a Waste CollectionCommitment12 for householders and Zero WasteScotland has a Voluntary Collection Commitmentunder development for Business Recycling andWaste Services that may be used as a baseline forthe development of this Charter.

The Charter, associated service information, andreporting, will inform householders and businessesof the “waste journey” and end destination for thematerial they have recycled in order to ensureconfidence in the system.

Optimising Services for the F uture

Policy objectives:1. To meet or exceed the targets set in Scotland’s

Zero Waste Plan (set out in Table 1).

2. To ensure that the Council’s waste collectionservices deliver Best Value and the Best PracticalEnvironmental Option to comply with the Waste(Scotland) Regulations 2012 and Kerbside GoodPractice Guidance.

3. To maximise the capture rate, quality and valueof material collected in line with the WasteHierarchy.

The actions are:1. Conduct periodic service reviews of all household

and business collections, to ensure that the highquality of recyclate/compostable materialcollected is maintained or moved up the WasteHierarchy. First review to report in 2013 withimplementation to be completed by the end of2015.

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2. The development of a Customer Charterexplaining our service standards and theexpectations and requirements uponhouseholders & businesses. Charter to becompleted and implemented by July 2015.

3. Following the introduction of the Waste(Scotland) Regulations, ensure that charging forcommercial waste, operates in a way thatcomplies with the forthcoming VoluntaryCommitment in this area. Review chargingregime and implement any necessary changes bythe end of 2015.

4. Development of a contamination andenforcement protocol/intervention policy for allcollection bins and boxes.

5. To incentivise communities to move to ZeroWaste, investigate the potential to return to thecommunity, in part, some of future savingsachieved from increased participation andreduced contamination following major servicechanges.

Issue 5: Maximising the Economic Benefitfrom Zero Waste

In addition to the “invest to save” approachproposed in the review of waste collections there are a range of partnership opportunities availableinvolving neighbouring Councils that should befurther developed and explored. These include jointeducation and awareness campaigns, thecontinuation of joint procurement (for wasteservices), potential for shared waste collectionsparticularly with regard to food waste, commercialwaste, and shared bulky uplift services. Partnershipopportunities also include working closely with theScottish Government, Zero Waste Scotland andCommunity Planning partners to further share the Zero Waste vision.

The impact of the new Zero Waste regime onbusinesses will be significant. Many will benefit from reduced costs but they may also require help to implement the changes. A new Resource EfficientScotland business support programme has beencreated which will help businesses become aware ofand implement their obligations under the Waste(Scotland) Regulations 2012. It is important that theCouncil alerts local business to the provision of thewaste regulations and their implications for theiroperations. Action via the Council’s business supportteam and other regulatory functions will benecessary to communicate the effects of thesechanges. Partnerships with local business throughthe Falkirk Business Panel, town centre managementand other business networks will be important incommunicating and promoting collaborativemeasures. Specific sectoral initiatives will beimportant to meet the needs of the area’s businessesin key sectors such as food manufacturing,chemicals, retailing or tourism.

It is anticipated that a move towards a moreresource efficient, Zero Waste community and amore circular economy will bring forward someadditional employment opportunities. The wastesector is already a major employer in the area withsignificant infrastructure established by companies.Further opportunities to develop measures togenerate employment through Zero Waste will beinvestigated through the course of the strategy’simplementation.

The Council can use its own purchasing powers to influence the practice of its suppliers and topromote Zero Waste. It has implemented itsprocurement policies successfully to includecommunity benefits clauses which gain addedbenefits in jobs, training and local purchasing. It isproposed that Zero Waste measures be introduced to add to the economic benefits being gained.

Managing the Economic Benefit from Zero Waste

Policy objectives:1. Maximise the economic value of waste generated

by minimising the amount of low value non-recyclable waste, and ensuring that waste iscollected and reused/recycled/composted toachieve its highest economic value possible.

2. To seek to maximise, where appropriate, thelocal economic benefit from the Council’sprocurement processes.

3. Encourage investment in Zero Wasteopportunities in the Council area.

The actions are:1. Use the Council’s influence to boost economic

activity and reduce the costs to businesses ofZero Waste through working in partnership withBusiness Gateway, Scottish Enterprise, ZeroWaste Scotland and existing mechanisms e.g.Falkirk Business Panel, the Forth Valley ResourceEfficiency Partnership and Business ImprovementDistricts. This will be an ongoing action.

2. Falkirk and its neighbouring Councils shouldcontinue to work together on a range of jointworking opportunities. This will be an ongoingaction with progress reported annually.

3. Provide guidance and support for the Council’scommercial collection customers to help themthrough the implementation of the Waste(Scotland) Regulations 2012. Information andadvice provided from 2013 to the end of 2015during the implementation period of theRegulations.

4. Support and encourage the development ofcollaborative local solutions through forexample: Business Improvement Districts (BIDs),joint procurement models and other relevantschemes. This will be an ongoing action withprogress reported annually.

5. Establish policies through the Council’sprocurement services to support the inclusion ofrecycled or reused content measures wherepractical in supplier specifications (by end 2013).

6. Consider further joint Council waste contracts toachieve opportunities from larger volumes whichmay support local innovation, infrastructure andeconomies of scale. This will be an ongoingaction with progress reported annually.

Optimising the collectionservice whilst ensuring itmeets the Waste (Scotland)Regulations now and for thefuture.

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7. Economic development strategies shouldincorporate the opportunities from Zero Wasteand should examine the specific needs for thearea’s key sectors. To be implemented at its nextrevision.

Issue 6 Improving Waste and ResourceManagement Infrastructure

The move towards a Zero Waste Society will requirea range of infrastructure and facilities to ensure thatfuture targets can be met. The existing localinfrastructure and largely that across Scotland hasbeen focused on landfill, with levels of reuserecycling & composting lower than necessary toachieving the Zero Waste targets. As we move closertowards Zero Waste no further landfill capacity canbe envisaged as being required in the Falkirk Councilarea. As more and more recyclate material isreturned to use within the economy there will be agreater need for the expansion of reprocessingfacilities, high quality recyclate sorting & bulkingfacilities, and treatment facilities for non-recyclablewaste. The higher value of materials treated throughrecycling and reprocessing facilities will ensuregreater economic benefit to communities and a keyfocus for the future will be to capture that economicbenefit for the Council area. The paragraph belowsummaries this situation with an example:

“One of the key growth sectors is thereprocessing industry. As new material becomesavailable and the value of materials increases,new opportunities to process materials intoviable market products are created. Forinstance, today some 440,000 tonnes of highgrade plastics (food plastics) go direct tolandfill, whereas material collected, bailed andexported to global markets commands around£130 per ton. If these plastics were reprocessedback into food grade material they would havea value in excess of £1,000 per ton. This is valuethat could be benefiting the Scottish economy,by creating jobs and supplying, for example,local bottling companies, thereby displacing theuse of virgin materials. To realise thisopportunity we need to improve collectionsystems and encourage businesses to invest inreprocessing technology and capacity;something being promoted by ZWS. A similarstory would apply to many other materialsthat are currently in the waste stream.13”The Scottish Government has begun to quantify the change required with some early forecasts of the changing need for resource managementfacilities provided by SEPA in Appendix B toScotland’s Zero Waste Plan14. These forecasts arebased on the former Area Waste Plan boundariesand are likely to be updated periodically. Theseforecasts are for all waste types including wastecollected by the Council.

Estimated infrastructure capacity need for theCouncil’s collected waste, if Scotland’s Zero WastePlan 2025 targets are achieved, using current levelsof total waste arising, are:

• 70% Recycling/Composting – 63,085tpa;

• 30% Non-recyclable Waste Treatment – 27,037tpa;

• 5% landfill of residual material (after Treatment)– 4,506tpa.

The Council’s landfill requirements are being metlocally and there is currently a significant 10 yearlandfill supply in the Falkirk Council area. This isbased on current tonnage estimates and subject tothe outcome of competitive tendering. Thenecessary infrastructure for recycling andreprocessing is less certain and therefore theCouncil’s priorities must be focused on securingsufficient facilities for these higher value processes.Note that, for the purposes of land use planning,these processes are considered potentially lessharmful to the environment and human health thanwaste management processes such as landfilling andtherefore are treated as general industrial activities.

The Council has its own recycling infrastructure,such as Roughmute and Kinneil Kerse RecyclingCentres. The Council will continue to promote theSelf Sufficiency & Proximity Principles from previouswaste plans and so achieve the targets firstly withinternal, or own area, services & resources and thenseek to use other external providers where required.This is likely to require some further expansion ofthe Council’s existing facilities to add furtherstorage capacity and containers for reuse andrecycling of new waste streams at both RecyclingCentres. There are a range of private sector facilitieswithin the Council area and also in other adjacentCouncil areas. Some examples of these are shown inTable 4 opposite.

Capturing more highquality recyclatematerial from theCouncils existingKinneil Kerse andRoughmute recyclingcentres.

14 Obtainable via the Scottish Government websitehttp://www.scotland.gov.uk

13 Draft BRIA for Zero Waste Regulations, ScottishGovernment, October 2011

Table 4 Examples of Existing ResourceManagement Infrastructure - proximity principle

* Solid waste facilities only

Safeguarding existing sitesWith the need to capture more materials forrecycling there is also a need to ensure the existingCouncil owned recycling infrastructure can beexpanded & developed if required. Therefore it isproposed that suitable planning policies recognisingthis situation are incorporated into the LocalDevelopment Plan.

Encouraging the right mix of new infrastructureA key concern for the future is the location and typeof new infrastructure generated by the privatesector in response to the demands driven by theZero Waste agenda. There is a risk that this mayfocus upon residual (non-recyclable) wastetreatment, such as the Energy from Waste (EfW),rather than on the higher value reuse and recyclingprocesses that will be required to meet the Council’sZero Waste obligations. In evaluating infrastructureproposals the Council will recognise that investmenthas to be primarily focused on facilities that supportreuse, repair and manufacturing as well asreprocessing, high quality sorting, andrecycling/composting infrastructure.

Improving Waste and Resource ManagementInfrastructure

Policy objectives:1. To continue the Proximity and Self Sufficiency

Principles applied to waste management withinthe Council area.

2. The Council’s economic development andplanning functions will prioritise wasteprevention over reuse and recycling, whereverpossible, to minimise overall infrastructurerequirements.

3. To encourage the right mix of wasteinfrastructure is developed to meet futuretargets, focusing upon high value reusereprocessing and recycling opportunities.

The actions are:1. The Council’s will encourage investment in new

high value waste facilities where required tomeet clear gaps in current reuse, recycling &reprocessing infrastructure. This can besupported by the Local Development Plan.

2. Through the Local Development Plan anappropriate screening process, or set of policycriteria, should help identify potentially suitableindustrial sites for recycling/reprocessinginfrastructure that helps meet the need to moveup the waste hierarchy. This should beundertaken in line with wider planning policies,and in compliance with the capacityrequirements contained in Appendix B of theZero Waste Plan (note that a Habitat RiskAssessment will be required to be included in anyscreening process).

3. Existing Council owned waste infrastructureshould be safeguarded for future use andexpansion where necessary to meet the capacityrequired for the Zero Waste Plan targets.

4. Prepare an annual update report on progress indeveloping the infrastructure to meet thecapacity needs identified by SEPA and theeconomic opportunities identified by Zero WasteScotland. This should be implemented via theLocal Development Plan reporting process.

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Facility Type Examples Level of importance

Reprocessing Glass Remelt - United Glass National & Facilities (OI Manufacturing), Alloa. UK

Windrow Composting Site - LocalFalkirk Council, Kinneil Kerse, Bo’ness.

Windrow Composting Site - LocalClackmannanshire & Stirling Council Polmaise, Stirling.

Plastics Reprocessing - Regional &Avanti Scotland, Alva. National

Wood Waste - AW Jenkinson Regional &Wood Waste Ltd, Bo’ness. National

Soil & rubble, Eagle Recycling, Local &Denny. Regional

High Quality Household & Commercial RegionalRecycling Sort recyclates MRF - Oran

Environmental Solutions, Grangemouth.

Aluminium cans bulk Nationalcollection point - ACE, Alloa.

Textiles& Footwear - Nathans, NationalDenny.

Metals - Foundry Steels, NationalGrangemouth: J Graham, & UKStirling (some of a range of scrap metal collectors).

Construction & Demolition RegionalWaste - Central Demolition, Bonnybridge.

Plastics - Oran Environmental RegionalSolutions, Kilbagie & Grangemouth.

Waste Disposal Services - Kelliebank, Alloa Local

Recycling Roughmute Recycling Centre LocalCollection & Transfer Station,

Falkirk

Polmaise Recycling Centre & LocalTransfer Station, Stirling (WTS shared with Clackmannanshire Council)

Kinneil Kerse Recycling Centre, LocalBo’ness

Forthbank Recycling Centre, LocalAlloa

ACE, Whins Road, Alloa Local

Waste Disposal Services, LocalKelliebank, Alloa

Plastics, Oran Environmental RegionalSolutions, Kilbagie & Grangemouth.

Non-recyclable waste MRF, Avondale Regionaltreatment Advanced Waste

Treatment, Polmont

Landfill Landfill Site, Avondale RegionalDisposal Environmental Ltd, Polmont

(the largest of a range of landfill sites).

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Issue 7 Managing Non-Recyclable Waste(Residual Waste)

Residual waste has in the past been landfilled,however the challenging restrictions on landfill setby Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan and rising landfill taxwill in future require residual waste to be treated toextract maximum value from it. Recyclable materialscontained within this fraction of waste are oftenused for energy production rather than beingreturned to the economy because they are mixedand contaminated by non-recyclable materials. Theresidual waste analysis mentioned previously insection 3 has shown that this contains significantlevels of recyclates resulting in considerable lostreprocessing value.

The Forth Valley Councils proposed a flexibleapproach to the procurement of residual wastetreatment in their SOC Plan, as opposed to thealternative option of entering into a majorinfrastructure investment in the form of a PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) type arrangement. In arapidly changing policy and regulatory environmentthis flexible approach has proven to be a prudentand successful tactic as EU and national policy hasincreasingly moved towards eliminating mixed non-recyclable waste in favour of greater separatecollection of waste materials.

As recycling and composting rates increase to meetthe new targets the quantity of non-recyclablewaste treatment required by the Council willcontinue to fall and will become 30% or less of totalwaste arising.

Currently the Council has a contract in place withAvondale Environmental Ltd that incorporates bothlandfill disposal and waste treatment. This contractoperates until August 2015 with possible contractextensions utilised. Given the significant risks oflong term investment in this area the Councilproposes to continue with this flexible andcompetitive approach to procuring residualtreatment capacity from external providers.

The Council has a closed landfill site at KinneilKerse, Bo’ness. The site is of an older design thanmodern landfills and therefore its environmentalimpact from emissions to air and water, during itsuse and now after closure, are higher than currentmodern landfill standards would allow. With thishistorical legacy in mind it is appropriate to attemptto minimise any further impacts arising from thesite. This can be addressed through, firstly,preventing the further release of emissions wherepractical and, secondly, by utilising the site for newrenewable energy opportunities, where feasible, tooffset its negative environmental impacts. Energyproduction from landfill gas on the site is not viable,however the alternative practice of gas flaring toreduce the site’s methane emissions is proposed.

Managing Non-Recyclable Waste (Residual Waste)

Policy objectives:1. To minimise the amount of non-recyclable waste

requiring treatment in line with the WasteHierarchy.

2. To adopt a policy of Zero Waste going directly tolandfill (i.e. any non–recyclable waste must betreated to extract any remaining value before theresidual element is landfilled).

3. Continue the policy of a flexible approach to theprocurement of residual waste treatment,utilising short to medium term contracts toensure that the Council can respond to futurechanges in regulation and taxation.

4. To reduce the environmental impact from theCouncil’s waste management legacy sites wherepractical and feasible.

The actions are:

1. Examine all Council controlled non-recyclablewaste streams to assess the options formaximising the value and opportunities fromthem. Assessment of Options to be completed byDecember 2015.

Minimising the amount of non-recyclable waste (orCouncil green bin waste) infavour of greater separatecollections of materialreflecting the currentpolicy framework.

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Glossary of common termsAWP - Area Waste PlanBMW - Biodegradable Municipal Waste (any municipal waste that iscapable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such asfood and garden waste, and paper/card)BPEO - Best Practicable Environmental Option - The BPEO procedureestablishes, for a given set of objectives, the optionthat provides themost benefit or least damage to the environment as a whole, atacceptable cost, in the long term as well as in the short term(RoyalCommission on Environmental Pollution (1988) 12th Report – BestPracticable Environmental Option)CHP - Combined Heat and PowerCircular Economy - An economy where materials and products areused over and over again within the economy rather than becomingwaste. This concept has a focus on businesses retaining ownership oftheir products and making significant changes in design to ensureproducts can be reused, repaired, refurbished or remanufacturedDEFRA - The UK Department of the Environment, Food and RuralAffairsDeposit and Return Schemes - Cans, plastics/glass bottles carry adeposit value that is refunded to the purchaser when the containersare returned to the retailer/producer.EFW or EfW - Energy from WasteEU - European UnionForth Valley - The aggregation of Clackmannanshire, Falkirk andStirling Council areas.GHG - Green House Gas (one of six commonly recognised gases whichtrap heat in the earth’s atmosphere)HMRC - Her Majesty’s Revenue and CustomsLAS - Landfill Allowance SchemeMBT - Mechanical Biological Treatment systems MRF - Materials Recovery Facility (used for sorting and separatingrecyclates)MSW - Municipal Solid Waste (waste from households, as well as otherwaste which, because of its nature or composition, is similar to wastefrom households)NWMP - National Waste Management PlanNon-Recyclable Waste - Material that is currently not recyclable orcompostable and therefore is sent to landfill or a residual wastetreatment process. Note that non recyclable waste may also includerecyclable or compostable material that has not been correctly sortedby householders and businesses.PP - Proximity PrinciplePPC - Pollution Prevention and Control Act (1999) (Regulations 2000)PPP - Public Private Partnership arrangementRecyclates - The term used for recyclable materials.RCV - Refuse Collection VehicleRDF - Refuse Derived FuelReverse Vending - A reverse vending machine is a device that acceptsused (empty) beverage/food containers and returns money to the user.rWFD - Revised Waste Framework DirectiveSelf Sufficiency Principle - aiming to address waste issues with your own resources SEA - Strategic Environmental AssessmentSEPA - Scottish Environment Protection AgencySOC - Strategic Outline Case (funding application by the Forth ValleyCouncils to the then Scottish Executive)Tpa - Tonnes per annumWEEE - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive(2002/96/EC) WFD - Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC)WPP - Waste Prevention PlanWRAP - Waste and Resources Action Programme (government fundedprogramme to reduce waste)ZWP - Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan ZWS - Zero Waste Scotland (WRAP’s programme in Scotland)

A range of key outcome measures will alsobe proposed as a consequence ofestablishing the strategy. These will beincorporated into the Single OutcomeAgreement for the Council and are likelyto focus on key performance measuressuch as: climate change impact, reductionsin waste arising, recycling and compostingrates achieved, provision of appropriateinfrastructure, and also the economicbenefit achieved.

Progress on the implementation of thisstrategy, and associated environmentalmonitoring, will be reported annually tothe relevant Council committee andposted on the Council’s website. Inaddition performance information fromSEPA, Audit Scotland, and the Council’sLand use Planning andSustainability/Climate Change Reportingwill also record progress of the strategy.Further information on progress may alsobe provided via the Council’s website andother forms of media. The Council will alsocommunicate its progress to localnetworks of businesses etc. to maintaintheir involvement in its implementation.

If you would like to discuss any aspects ofthis strategy or are seeking to get moreinvolved in making Falkirk a Zero WasteCommunity please contact:

Falkirk Council

Email to: zerowaste@falkirk.gov.uk

Telephone: 01324 50 44 44

Monitoring of Progress6

By working togetheron improving ourwaste management, wecan enable better useof our resources andopen up new marketsand jobs, as well asencouraging lessdependence on importsof raw materials andlowering the impactson the environment.

Appendix 1 Summary of current services

Material Collection Container Materials Collected Stream Frequency

Residual Fortnightly 240ltr green Residual(non recyclable) wheeled bin (non recyclable) waste

Recycling - Fortnightly 240ltr blue Mixed paper,Co-mingled wheeled bin cardboard, plastic

bottles, food & drinks cans, mixed plastics, Tetra Pak

Recycling - Fortnightly 50ltr black Colour segregatedPre sorted box glass, small waste

electrical items (WEEE) & batteries

Textiles Fortnightly Plastic sack Clothing, shoes, bags, belts, blankets, quilt covers, pillow cases and sheets

Garden Fortnightly 240ltr brown Flowers and plants, wheeled bin grass clippings,

hedge trimmings, weeds, leaves, prunings, twigs and small branches

Food Waste Weekly 5ltr silver Food waste includinginternal caddy vegetables, meat, and 23ltr dairy, tea bags andexternal coffee grounds.container

Special Uplifts On request Loose Bulky uplifts of household items but no DIY

Commercial On request Various As Residual andWaste containers Recycling - Co-mingled

as requested above

Falkirk Council offers its residents a three binkerbside collection service, a kerbside box(including food waste collection) and a textilerecycling sack. Falkirk currently operates afortnightly residual (non-recyclable) wastecollection service for the majority ofproperties using a Green 240ltr wheeled bin,although some properties such as flats stillreceive a weekly collection. Approximately95% (68,000) of households are provided witha fortnightly kerbside dry recyclate collectionservice. The dry recyclate service incorporatesthe following:

• Blue 240ltr co-mingled bin (cans, paper,card, mixed plastic, tetra paks)

• Black 50ltr box collected separately (coloursegregated glass, small electrical items,textiles - within a separate bag, andbatteries)

The council also provides a fortnightlykerbside collection service to approximately64,000 households for green (compostablegarden) waste and food waste. The greenwaste is collected in a Brown 240ltr wheeledbin and the food waste in a 23ltr externalcaddy.

Residences in multi occupancy buildings areprovided with a weekly communal dryrecyclate collection (this is currently underreview with the anticipation that the majorityof these properties will revert to an alternateweek collection of residual waste and co-mingled dry recyclate). Residual waste isdisposed of in either a Green wheeled bin,black bag or communal waste bin.

The council also provides a recycling ledcommercial service to customers on a varietyof frequencies as required. The currentcollections, are summarised opposite: Other Services

In addition to the household kerbside collection, thefollowing services and facilities are provided:

• Falkirk has a network of over 90 recycling points whereusers can recycle food & drink cans, glass, paper andtextiles.

• Falkirk has two Household Waste Recycling Centres(HWRC) one at Kinneil Kerse Recycling Centre,Grangemouth Road, Bo’ness and one at RoughmuteRecycling Centre, Bogton Road, Bonnybridge. These offera variety of waste separation opportunities forhouseholders.

• A Waste Transfer Station, based at Roughmute,Bonnybridge.

• Waste awareness and waste prevention campaigns andactivities in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland andcommunity bodies. These focus upon waste preventionand niche reuse/recycling activities such as homecomposting, real nappies and waste prevention activities.

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Appendix 2 Useful Links

Falkirk Council www.falkirk.gov.uk

Scotland’s Zero Waste Planwww.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/waste-and-pollution/Waste-1/wastestrategy

Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2012/148/contents/made

Zero Waste Scotlandwww.zerowastescotland.org.uk

Draft Guidance on Applying the Waste Hierarchy (October 2012)www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/10/2631

Duty of Care - A Code Of Practice (October 2012)www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/10/2631

Local Authority Kerbside Good Practice Guide (September 2012)www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/local-authority-kerbside-good-practice-guide

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)www.sepa.org.uk

SEPA Waste Data Strategy www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data.aspx

Revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC)http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/revision.htm

The Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2011/228/contents/made

Producer Responsibilitywww.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_regulation/producer_responsibility.aspx

Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/climatechange/scotlands-action/climatechangeact

Carbon Metric Information (March 2011)www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/carbonmetric

Safeguarding Scotland’s Resources (June 2012)www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/06/4215

Recyclate Quality Action Plan Consultation (October 2012)www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/10/6584/downloads

Landfill Taxwww.hmrc.gov.uk/landfill-tax/index.htm

Eco Schools Scotlandwww.ecoschoolsscotland.org

Mail Preference Servicewww.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr

Resource Efficient Scotlandwww.resourceefficientscotland.com

The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management www.ciwm.co.uk

National ‘Recycle For Scotland’ Campaignhttp://recycleforscotland.com

Zero Waste Scotland; Individual Actions On Wastewww.zerowastescotland.org.uk/category/role/individual

European Union Waste Management Overview http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/

European Union Resource Efficiency Platformhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/

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zero waste strategyfalkirk council

2012-2022www.falkirk.gov.uk/zerowastefalkirk