Working with natural flood management to help manage flood risk to local properties and to improve habitats.

Speech by Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency
Royal Society of Arts, 24 September 2018

25 September 2018

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published Official Statistics today which provide detail of Household Waste collected across all Local Authorities during 2017, and for the first time as an official statistic, the carbon impact metric. This is a measure developed by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) of the whole-life carbon impacts of waste, from resource extraction and manufacturing emissions, right through to waste management emissions.

Data for every one of Scotland’s 32 local authorities are available on SEPA’s website along with additional commentary for the whole of Scotland.

The statistics show that for the 2017 calendar year, the household waste recycling rate was 45.6%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the 45.0% rate achieved in 2016. The total amount of household waste generated in Scotland was 2.46 million tonnes in 2017, a decrease of 38,153 tonnes (1.5%) from 2016, while there was a decrease of 24,848 tonnes (2.2%) in household waste disposed to landfill.

This is the sixth consecutive decrease in household waste landfilled since 2011. For the first time, in 2017 there was more Scottish waste recycled (1.12 million tonnes) than landfilled (1.11 million tonnes).

For the first time the official statistics also show the carbon impact of Scottish household waste generated and managed in 2017.  This is a measure of the whole-life carbon impacts of waste, from resource extraction and manufacturing emissions, right through to waste management emissions.  The carbon impact of household waste generated and managed in 2017 was 5.86 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is the equivalent to 1.08 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per person.  This was a decrease of 115,938 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (1.9%) from 2016, and a decrease of 904,491 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (13.4%) from 2011. The carbon impact of waste was developed and previously published by Zero Waste Scotland.  Harmonised statistical waste reporting to include tonnage and carbon-dioxide emission data, an initiative of Scotland’s Waste Data Strategy board, has been enabled by a working partnership between SEPA and ZWS.

Official statistics have also been published specifically for all Waste Landfilled and Waste Incinerated within Scotland during 2017.

The total amount of waste landfilled in Scotland in 2017 was 3.83 million tonnes, an increase of 90,816 tonnes (2.4%) from 2016.  The increase was primarily due to an increase in the landfill of soils – such as waste soils and rocks from construction sites – which increased by 230,748 tonnes (22.4%) from 2016 to a level consistent with the years 2011-2015.

The total quantity of waste incinerated in Scotland in 2017 was 766,574 tonnes.  This was an increase of 83,347 tonnes (12.2%) from 2016, and an increase of 356,515 tonnes (86.9%) from 2011.

Data on waste are collected to monitor policy effectiveness, and to support policy development, particularly commitments in the Scottish Government’s Making Things Last – A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland. Further details on the methodology used to produce the figures are provided in the “Household waste” section of the annual Waste Data Quality Reports.

The figures are accurate at the time of publication, however data may be updated if further revisions are necessary. Normally these revisions will be published concurrent with the next official release. 

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Notes to editors

25 September 2018

SEPA’s Chief Executive, Terry A’Hearn, attended the Safe Taysiders event at Baluniefield Police Training Station in Dundee yesterday (Monday 24 September) to encourage young people to educate their friends and family on how they can be flood-prepared.

• The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is working with partners to raise awareness of flooding amongst young people
• Safe Taysiders is an annual event which helps young people to learn how they can be flood-prepared
• SEPA’s Chief Executive attended Safe Taysiders to encourage young people to share what they have learned with friends and family

Safe Taysiders is an annual event, organised by Dundee City Council, which aims to increase awareness of how young people can stay safe in a number of different flooding situations. Over 1,500 pupils across Tayside are expected to take part in the event which runs from 17 September to 4 October.

All pupils complete a hazard perception activity to see if they can identify potential flooding risks, and are given the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice using SEPA’s flood activity mat.

Mr A’Hearn said:

“Every day SEPA works to help Scotland prepare more powerfully for future increased flooding. Flooding affects us all but often young people don’t initially think it is something that is relevant to them.

“The Safe Taysiders event is a great opportunity to help children learn about flooding, where it can come from and how it can be dangerous. I am very impressed with how quickly the children were able to identify the key sources of flooding and the potential hazards. We hope that the children will take what they have learned and use this knowledge to help spread the word to their friends and families on how they can be flood-prepared.”

A host of information to help young people learn about how to be prepared for flooding, including a video on how to make a flood kit and fun games which teach children how to stay safe, is available on SEPA’s Floodline Kids webpage.

If you would like to sign up to Floodline to receive Flood Alerts or Warnings for your areas you can do this on-line or by phone on 0345 988 1188.

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