30 September 2008
The looming bill from landfill
Anthony Oakshott
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Councils need to push ahead with plans to reduce landfill or they will face huge fines,the Audit Commission recently warned, as Anthony Oakshott reports.
As if budget pressures were not enough to cope with, councils now face the imminent prospect of huge fines because of looming landfill charges under the EU’s Landfill Directive.
But too many councils either remain in denial or believe their increasing recycling levels will enable them to meet the stiffer EU targets.
Yet, if their calculations are wrong, the fines – which, of course, will be borne by the taxpayer – could be as much as £140m.
Last week, the Audit Commission waded into the debate with a report saying that recycling alone would not reduce landfill amounts, and that councils would have to grasp the nettle and opt for more incineration. This, of course, promises furious rows with residents opposed to incineration plants on health grounds.
The commission’s report Well disposed: Responding to the waste challenge, says the UK can meet the Landfill Directive targets by 2013, but warns councils they cannot rely solely on creating less waste and recycling more, if the 2013 target is to be achieved.
It says investment in waste disposal technologies which convert waste into energy or fuel will have the most significant impact on landfill reduction, and that delays to the projects currently under way pose the greatest threat to achieving the target.
These are major, often controversial, projects which cost a minimum of £20m and can take 10 years or more to deliver. Together they will create additional capacity for 6.4m tonnes of waste.
But the crunch is that if schemes already planned were delayed by just two years, England would exceed its landfill allocation by 13% and incur £140m in penalties which would be picked up by the taxpayer.
Chairman of the Audit Commission, Michael O'Higgins, says: ‘We only have to look in our own bins to see that not everything we throw away can be recycled, so we’ve got to find somewhere other than landfill to put it.’ Councils which are struggling to find effective ways of reducing their landfill cannot afford to do nothing.
Even if England as a whole meets the 2013 target, those authorities which exceed their individual landfill allocations could still be facing fines of as much as £2m each.
The commission says these authorities must act quickly, and issues a checklist which emphasises the importance of communicating the issues to the public.
Factfile
As if budget pressures were not enough to cope with, councils now face the imminent prospect of huge fines because of looming landfill charges under the EU’s Landfill Directive.
But too many councils either remain in denial or believe their increasing recycling levels will enable them to meet the stiffer EU targets.
Yet, if their calculations are wrong, the fines – which, of course, will be borne by the taxpayer – could be as much as £140m.
Last week, the Audit Commission waded into the debate with a report saying that recycling alone would not reduce landfill amounts, and that councils would have to grasp the nettle and opt for more incineration. This, of course, promises furious rows with residents opposed to incineration plants on health grounds.
The commission’s report Well disposed: Responding to the waste challenge, says the UK can meet the Landfill Directive targets by 2013, but warns councils they cannot rely solely on creating less waste and recycling more, if the 2013 target is to be achieved.
It says investment in waste disposal technologies which convert waste into energy or fuel will have the most significant impact on landfill reduction, and that delays to the projects currently under way pose the greatest threat to achieving the target.
These are major, often controversial, projects which cost a minimum of £20m and can take 10 years or more to deliver. Together they will create additional capacity for 6.4m tonnes of waste.
But the crunch is that if schemes already planned were delayed by just two years, England would exceed its landfill allocation by 13% and incur £140m in penalties which would be picked up by the taxpayer.
Chairman of the Audit Commission, Michael O'Higgins, says: ‘We only have to look in our own bins to see that not everything we throw away can be recycled, so we’ve got to find somewhere other than landfill to put it.’ Councils which are struggling to find effective ways of reducing their landfill cannot afford to do nothing.
Even if England as a whole meets the 2013 target, those authorities which exceed their individual landfill allocations could still be facing fines of as much as £2m each.
The commission says these authorities must act quickly, and issues a checklist which emphasises the importance of communicating the issues to the public.
Factfile
- the EU Landfill Directive requires the UK to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 75%, 50% and 35%
- in 2006/07, English councils dealt with more than 29m tonnes of waste, almost 26m tonnes of which was generated by households. Around one-third was recycled or composted, but over half was sent to landfill
- collecting municipal waste cost councils £1.15bn in 2006/07. Disposal cost a further £1.46bn
- methane emissions from landfill sites account for 3% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions
- the UK still sends more waste to landfill than other European neighbours
- at the current rate of use, the UK’s landfill sites will accommodate only seven more years of landfilling waste
- if waste-disposing councils exceed their landfill allowances, they face penalties of £150 per tonne
- procuring a major new waste treatment facility typically takes seven years or more
- councils could face costs of up to £7m (£30 per household) if the 2013 national target is missed.
- the EU Landfill Directive requires the UK to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 75%, 50% and 35%
- in 2006/07, English councils dealt with more than 29m tonnes of waste, almost 26m tonnes of which was generated by households. Around one-third was recycled or composted, but over half was sent to landfill
- collecting municipal waste cost councils £1.15bn in 2006/07. Disposal cost a further £1.46bn
- methane emissions from landfill sites account for 3% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions
- the UK still sends more waste to landfill than other European neighbours
- at the current rate of use, the UK’s landfill sites will accommodate only seven more years of landfilling waste
- if waste-disposing councils exceed their landfill allowances, they face penalties of £150 per tonne
- procuring a major new waste treatment facility typically takes seven years or more
- councils could face costs of up to £7m (£30 per household) if the 2013 national target is missed.
The Audit Commission recommends councils:
- forecast the amount and composition of waste arising in their area based on past trends and sound data on household and population growth
- actively test the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) market, including trading in future allowances, to realise its full potential to manage the financial risks of landfilling more or less than the authority’s initial allocation of landfill allowances for biodegradable municipal waste
- apply common, objective approaches to assessing the environmental impact of waste treatment
- weigh the relative costs of investment in waste disposal infrastructure and buying LATS allowances, ensuring they have thoroughly investigated the alternatives to investing in waste infrastructure, such as LATS trading and partnering with other authorities
- ensure that senior officers and members – especially cabinet members, portfolio holders and those involved in scrutiny – understand the dimensions of value for money in waste disposal and scrutinise decisions effectively
- integrate communication of their waste disposal strategy with other aspects of their approach to communications with the public, and consider using a broad variety of communication approaches
- ensure public consultation includes clear communication of the financial impact on council budgets and taxpayers of different options for dealing ith waste.
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