Waste Prevention - MSW & C&I

1. Waste Prevention- MSW & C&I Jamie Pitcairn and Simon Stockwell

2. Summary of Presentation - MSW • Target • Performance • Socio-economic drivers • Current action • Possible future action – eg waste legislation consultation • And more?? Think Tank views

3. MSW Target To Stop Growth inMunicipal Waste by 2010

4. From 2001 to 2006, annual MSW waste growth in Scotland was around 1.5% a year Recent Performance

5. Socio-economic factors (-ve) • Growth in population. Latest figures by the GRO (S) show that by 2006 Scotland’s population grew to 5,116,900 • Growth in single-person households. 35% of households had one adult (only) in 2006. Projected to be 44% by 2031. [30% in 1996] • Economic growth • Consumerism – eg cooking time; cost of repair; cost of new; cost of food; fashion [DEFRA]; consumer credit

6. Socio-economic factors (+ve) • Newspaper sales falling • More on-line billing • Greater awareness • Light-weighting etc • Changes in the economy

7. What is Scotland doing? – action plan • Packaging • Life-span of products • Food waste campaign • Carrier bags • Unwanted mail • Home (and community) composting • Nappies • Social marketing • Greater re-use

8. More Planned Consultation on Waste Legislation

9. But what more can we do?? OVER TO THINK TANK MEMBERS

10. Zero WasteC&I

11. Commercial and Industrial • Data not great – waste arisings relies mainly on surveys • But we know the big generators: eg construction and demolition • Hard to know overall waste performance. But amount going to landfill is steadily falling – permitted site returns

12. Waste Data- trends *2006 – increase in number of exempt sites

13. Factors/Issues • Industry mix. Scotland’s industrial base is changing - composition will change • Planned economic growth in key sectors • Economic benefit to waste prevention 1 – 3% of turnover can relate to waste (AEA & Cambridge Econometrics 2006) • Corporate Social Responsibility (but does this mean anything? Are the right metrics used?)

14. Current Action • UK Government Landfill Tax. £8/tonne/year escalator. £2.5 - £32/tonne • Producer responsibility – is this working? • Compulsory Site Waste Management Plans in England. • Envirowise working with Sepa and Planners to implement SWMP. No real leadership and no clear roles/responsibilities • Defra waste strategy – Halving C,D&E waste to landfill by 2012 • Programme support – Envirowise, WRAP, NISP

15. Envirowise Services • Free advice and support • Advice-line & website • Visits – designTRACK, FastTrack • Publications, events & webinars • Measurement and Benchmarking • Carbon calculating tool

16. Envirowise • 2006/07 programme activity • 18,000 businesses engaged with the programme in Scotland • 67,000 web page hits • 2,100 calls to advice line • 320 visits • 26 Key Account Projects

17. Envirowise • 2006 Impact Assessment* • £13m saved by Scottish businesses • 132,000 tonnes diverted • 3,800,000 m3 water saved • 1,900,000 m3 Effluent saved • 55,000 tonnes of carbon *Databuild – independent assessment

18. Increasing numbers of businesses want to act on climate change

19. Envirowise helped businesses reduce carbon by between1.1 – 1.6 million tonnes in 2005* *Defra Impact assessment 2005

20. Considerations Business Decisions include: • Proportions of raw materials • E.g. plastic versus cardboard for packaging • Proportions of different wastes • E.g. Plastic versus glass for bottles Confirmed that material and water reductions are important for carbon reduction

21. Footprint and Resources • Simple average of footprint from 10 companies from 6 sectors.

22. Decision indicator - Prioritise • Envirowise has developed a tool to help users think about how to manage their carbon footprint. • This is only designed as an indicator, not a full-blown footprinting tool. • Envirowise hopes this will increase understanding and focus on indirect impacts and help prioritise investments.

23. Conclusions and talking points • For many sectors, resource use is key to managing carbon • Getting across the message of indirect energy use and the implications of purchasing and location decisions will be critical • The data for decision making is patchy, debateable, hard to access

24. Future Thinking - Data? • National data – needs to be better to inform policy and decision making • Electronic database of returns • Top 20% of waste creators report data? • Planning & SWMP? • Poor Business Data - Better data provision to the client company • Understanding the ‘output’ – help focus attention onto ‘input’ • Agreement with waste management companies

25. Future Thinking - Targeting • Specific waste streams: high volumes or high embodied carbon? • Big companies & big tonnes • Waste prevention plans/reporting arisings • Focus on tonnes not turnover • Sectors – Construction/Agriculture • Energy from waste?

26. Future Thinking - Regulation • Policy Framework – focuses on waste management NOT waste prevention • Packaging Directive – encourages recycling and re-use not reduction (PRNs) • C&D – Mandatory SWMPs • Mandatory reporting by all contractors on waste arisings and disposal • Prime contractors responsible for all waste generated = reduction in fly-tipping

27. Clear Messages to Business • Sustainable Production and Consumption • It’s raw materials, not waste.– Attitudinal change and messaging – carbon tool, 3 planet living etc. • Design waste out from the start, not at the end • Construction • Manufacturing • Packaging

28. More Planned Consultation on Waste Legislation – includes Waste Prevention Plans

29. But what more can we do?? OVER TO THINK TANK MEMBERS