Key Scottish Environment Statistics: 2002
Waste
Weight (thousand tonnes)
| 1990 | 1994 | 1997 | 1998 |
Household | 2,214 | 2,382 | 2.698 | 2,991 |
Commercial | 1,437 | 1,874 | 2,218 | 2,024 |
Construction and demolition | 3,709 | 7,716 | 7,008 | 5,097 |
Industrial | 2,350 | 3,906 | 1,952 | 1,671 |
Other | - | - | 103 | 90 |
Total | 9,710 | 15,877 | 13,979 | 11,873 |
The disposal of waste to landfill can squander many tonnes of valuable materials, release pollutants into the soil and watercourses, and emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
The National Waste Strategy 2 places disposal to landfill at the bottom of its waste hierarchy. The principal route for waste disposal in Scotland, however, is landfill, with 11.9 million tonnes deposited in 1998. Construction and demolition accounted for 5.1 million tonnes (43%) of this total, though this was 2.6 million tonnes less than in 1994. Household waste accounted for 25% of the total in 1998.
The EU Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) requires a reduction in the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) sent to landfill. By 2010, only 75% of BMW should go to landfill, 50% by 2013 and 35% by 2020, compared to a 1995 baseline 3.
The Landfill tax was introduced in 1996, with an initial rate of 7 per tonne for biodegradable waste, in order to discourage the disposal of waste to landfill. The tax rate was increased to 10 per tonne in 1999, and will continue to increase by 1 each year until 2004.
SOURCE: SCOTTISH OFFICE 4 , SEPA 5
The associated Scottish Environment Statistics Online website may contain more recent or revised data: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/envonline