Landfill target would see waste sent south

Nicola Sturgeon has admitted that plans to ban all biodegradable household waste from being sent to landfill in Scotland will be “difficult” to deliver, after a report warned it would result in the vast majority being sent to England instead.

Under a law passed in 2012, landfill operators will be stopped from accepting biodegradable waste, which includes food and garden rubbish, paper and cardboard, from January 2021.

This type of waste produces the potent greenhouse gas methane as it decomposes within landfill sites, so it is hoped the ban will help with wider efforts to combat climate change.

But a report published this week by UK public finance watchdog the Office for budget responsibility said the plans would simply result in the waste being dumped in England.

It forecast that 89 per cent of the biodegradable waste produced in Scotland would be diverted south of the Border after 2021, where it would either be buried in landfill sites or incinerated.

It also said the ban would cost the Scottish Government £70 million a year in lost tax revenues, as it would no longer be able to recoup landfill tax from local authorities and companies. It suggested that Scottish ministers were already planning for the target to be missed, citing the “preliminary findings” of a report they had commissioned into the issue.