- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to set targets for the recycling and reduction of (a) commercial and industrial, (b) construction and demolition and (c) agricultural waste.
Answer
The Scottish Government intends to consider setting targets for waste in these sectors as part of the review of the National Waste Plan.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on 24 January 2008, whether it intends to agree specific targets on waste with each local authority.
Answer
Yes the Scottish Government does intend to agree specific targets on waste with each local authority, principally to ensure that each local authority diverts sufficient biodegradable municipal waste from landfill in order for Scotland to meet its EU Landfill Directive obligation in 2010 and also to ensure that each local authority contributes to National Indicators 39 (amount of waste going to landfill) and 32 (ecological footprint) within the Scottish Government''s National Performance Framework.
Scottish Government will seek to ensure that local authorities contribute towards the National Performance Framework by agreeing local outcomes to be included in their single outcome agreements (SOAs).
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to set detailed specifications in order to guide local authorities about the safety and capability of new waste management and treatment technologies, as refered to by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment on 24 January 2008 (Official Report c. 4596).
Answer
As indicated in the parliamentary statement on waste policy on 24 January, the government will include material in the National Planning Framework to reflect the government''s priorities on waste. In addition, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are producing revised guidelines on energy from waste plants, to reflect the need for high efficiency plants. SEPA are also responsible for the licensing of waste management plants. Guidance on waste technologies can be found on the Waste Technology Data Centre website, which has been supported by SEPA.
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wtd/.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on 24 January 2008, whether it will clarify what exactly will be counted as recycling in respect of meeting waste targets.
Answer
The previous administration, in Technical Notes relating to spending reviews, used a definition of recycling, including organic waste which is composted, contained in the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. This definition is that recycling means the reprocessing in a production process of the waste materials for the original purpose or for other purposes including organic recycling but excluding energy recovery.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of Audit Scotland’s analysis of the greater cost of delivering higher waste recycling targets, what additional resources will be available to meet the higher targets in the Scottish Government’s new waste strategy (a) across Scotland and (b) in each local authority area in each of the next three years.
Answer
The Scottish Government will provide local authorities with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the former ring-fenced Strategic Waste Fund
, will be provided by means of a block grant. It will therefore be the responsibility of each local authority to allocate financial resources to meet its obligations, needs and priorities.
In addition to this, Scottish Government''s spending plans for the period 2008-11 included an allocation of £154 million to the Zero Waste Fund. The proposed expenditure across Scotland is £41.1 million in 2008-09; £54.4 million in 2009-10, and £58.7 million in 2010-11. Around £50 million of the total will be spent on support of delivery bodies but the remaining £100 million is intended to be spent on putting the necessary infrastructure in place to meet our longer term waste targets post 2010-11. A short-life working group will shortly be established between Scottish Government and COSLA to determine how this financial resource should be best deployed.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on 24 January 2008, whether it intends to set specific levels for composting.
Answer
The targets announced in my statement on 24 January 2008 were combined targets for both recycling and composting of municipal waste. The review of the National Waste Plan will consider the case for separate composting targets.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what its interpretation is of the proximity principle.
Answer
Paragraph 2.1.2 of the current National Waste Plan says: The proximity and self-sufficiency principles require waste to be dealt with as close as possible to where it is produced. It is European Union policy that individual Member States should deal with their own waste, avoiding export to other countries. Scotland aims to follow this principle. However, it is acknowledged that dealing with all waste within Scotland may not be possible and may not always be the best solution. Scotland also aims to follow the proximity principle as far as possible at area waste planning level, although there may clear benefits from joint infrastructure solutions between areas. (
http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/nws/guidance/national_plan_2003.pdf)
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will be expected to give local authorities specific advice in achieving the proximity principle, whereby there is a presumption that all schemes will be located close to the source of the waste and will be of an appropriate scale.
Answer
It is not for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to advise local authorities on the proximity principle. Instead, it is for the land-use planning system to determine the location of plants. SEPA is a statutory consultee on planning applications relating to waste management facilities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proximity principle will be a material issue for determining planning applications for new waste facilities.
Answer
Although priority must initially be given to the development plan in determining a planning application, other relevant issues may also be considered depending on the facts and circumstances of each case. The proximity principle may therefore be a material consideration in determining planning applications for new waste facilities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to update planning guidance on waste in order to reflect the new waste targets and, if so, when.
Answer
As the Government indicated in the Parliamentary statement on waste on 24 January 2008, we will ensure that the new National Planning Framework reflects the government''s key objectives on waste.
