Should We Fine Households for Not Recycling

With the news that Conwy Council is threatening to fine householders £100 for not recycling, is it now time for Scottish Government or local authorities in Scotland to do the same?

Having reviewed the it got me back thinking about and re visiting an old hobby horse of mine – Albion know from the waste compositional work that we do that, on average, about 30% of residual waste is actually food waste, 30% is also recyclate, which if segregated properly, should be in the recycling system, and 10% is material which could be recycled at charity shops, supermarkets and household waste recycling centres (HWRC’s).

So, what would be the financial saving be, if some or all of this waste was placed in the correct bin?

For the purposes of this illustration, I have kept the calculation pretty simple. Yes, we could do a much more complicated model and factor in lots of different variables, but I have limited time I want to spend putting this post together.

The assumptions I have used are as follows –
– Annual tonnage data used is from SEPA Waste data site Scottish Household Waste 2021 Data (this is the most recent data available)

– I have assumed “other diversion” category is 100% waste to energy. It is likely, that it is not to be 100%, but the percentage being treated at other facilities is likely to be low as there are few alternative facilities in Scotland.

– I have assumed a landfill gate fee plus landfill tax at £120 / tonne, other diversion, i.e., waste to energy at £110 / tonne, food waste (AD/ in vessel composting) £30/tonne and recycling gate fee £90/ tonne. A combined £60 / tonne rate has been used to calculate recycling cost on 2021 data.

– In terms of waste collections – it is assumed all councils will already have routes in place serving all households, so no increase in collection costs has been factored in (increase in recycling would reduce residual waste collected so costs would balance out).

– As stated above I have assumed 30% by weight of landfilled and other diversion waste is food waste, and another 30% by weight is recyclate (this percentage is relatively consistent from all the waste compositional work we do across Scotland).

Table 1 – Calculatedcost of 2021 Household waste

2021 Data Tonnes Rate per tonne (£) Cost (£)
Total waste generated

2,483,304

Recycled

1,061,042

£          60  £               63,662,520
Landfilled

663,533

£        120  £               79,623,960
Other diversion

757,913

£        110  £               83,370,430
 £             226,656,910
 

Using this data, and then factoring in an increase in food waste segregation by 10% (a tiny figure when you consider less than 20% of households are using the food waste system) results in a saving of just over £4million. If we could improve food waste segregation by 50% this would result in a £11.5million saving and result is over 99,000 less tonnes of waste, going to landfill or waste energy.

Graph 1

So, it is clear there is a big saving to be had financially but there are also massive carbon benefits. Food waste going into AD / in vessel composting is circular waste management at its best, and there would be a significant reduction on carbon.

The results from segregating the recyclate are also significant and an increase in recyclate segregation by 10% results in a saving of just over £3million. If we could improve food waste segregation by 50% this would result in a £5.5million saving and result is 99,000 less tonnes of waste, going to landfill or waste energy.

 

Graph 2

When you combine the results from segregating food waste and recyclate and improve performance by 10% this results in a saving of just over £7million. If we could improve food waste and recyclate segregation by 50% this would result in a £17million saving and result is 198,000 less tonnes of waste, going to landfill or waste energy.

 

Graph 3 

So, it seems simple – get the household to us the recycling system provided to them properly and there are massive financial savings, huge reduction in carbon emissions and many more benefits as the remaining waste streams will be cleaner and easier to sort and process.

The question is how do we get the public to use their system properly? Is it going down the Cowy Council route and fining households for not using the system properly or do we need to get in a position where the public are required to use the system correctly – currently the focus is on councils and waste companies doing more but no requirement for the public to do anything.

Maybe we just need to start being a bit more honest with the public that they are not recycling very well as the regular waste composition data shows.
I know the solution is not easy but getting the existing system working more efficiently may be more effective than striving for the next big thing!

I would love to hear your views.

Alasdair Meldrum

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