The landfilling of waste, especially biodegradable waste, can pollute the environment and produce greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.

The UK and other EU countries have agreed to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill to prevent or reduce as far as possible any damage to the environment caused by landfilling such as the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil, air and the production of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.

This basis of this agreement is the EU Landfill Directive which sets challenging targets for the UK and other EU countries to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) sent to landfill.

Latest News – Ending of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme

The Waste Review has announced the ending of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) after the 2012/13 scheme year in England.

Defra has taken this decision after a careful analysis of the range of policies needed to enable England to meet landfill diversion targets in 2013 and 2020. This analysis, along with responses to the consultation on meeting landfill diversion targets launched in March 2010, has shown that LATS is no longer the major driver for diverting waste. The Landfill Tax is now much more of an incentive for local authorities to reduce the waste they send to landfill.

LATS has proven effective in influencing local authorities to take action to divert biodegradable waste from landfill. This has been through a combination of waste prevention measures, increasing recycling and composting, and investing in waste treatment facilities. Defra has already announced that England has met the 2010 EU Landfill Diversion Target, and is making good progress towards meeting the 2013 and 2020 targets. But it is now right to end LATS after the 2012/13 scheme year, and rely instead on existing measures such as the Landfill Tax to deliver reductions in the amount of waste sent to landfill. This approach is consistent with the direction of the Government’s wider review of waste policies, removes unnecessary burdens on those affected, and removes a potential barrier for small businesses to manage their waste in a more environmentally friendly way.

Ending LATS does not mean that diverting waste from landfill is any less of a priority, just that the means of driving this have changed. Waste still needs to be diverted from landfill to ensure that environmental benefits, and the Landfill Diversion Targets, are achieved. Local authorities should bear in mind that the requirements of LATS remain in place and will be enforced until the end of the 2012/13 scheme year.

• Impact assessment on the ending of LATS

Key facts and figures

Under the EU Landfill Directive, the UK is obligated to reduce the amount of BMW sent to landfill based on the amount of this material landfilled in 1995 to 75% by 2010, to 50% by 2013 and to 35% by 2020. The definition of municipal waste recently changed and the tonnage of the new targets is given below:

Following discussions with the European Commission, Defra has changed the definition of municipal waste, and now includes some Commercial and Industrial waste as well as most of the existing local authority collected waste.

Guidance

To enable England to meet its share of the UK target, waste disposal authorities in England were given individual targets and the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) was introduced to enable local authorities to trade allowances in a cost effective way.  The requirements of LATS remain in place and will be enforced until the end of the 2012/13 scheme year.

• Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) – A beginners guide (PDF 30KB)
• Guidance on Trading, Banking and Borrowing Landfill Allowances (PDF 50KB)

LATS Registers

The Electronic Register of Landfill Allowances has been developed by Defra to record all allowances allocated to each waste disposal authority and to facilitate the banking, borrowing and trading of allowances.

The Register is available at http://lats.defra.gov.uk

Defra has also created a public landfill allowance register and a register of financial penalties Public LATS Register

Relevant legislation and regulations

The Landfill Directive is implemented in England by the Waste and Emissions Trading (WET) Act (2003) and the Regulations made under it. The WET Act provides the framework for a Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme designed to implement Article 5(2) of the Landfill Directive.

The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) set targets for EU Member States to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill. These targets were transposed into legislation by the WET Act. Until recently, municipal waste covered by the WET Act has been defined as waste collected under arrangements made by local authorities. The UK has now agreed with the European Commission that this approach is too narrowly focused, and that we should include more commercial waste collected by the private sector.

This new interpretation means that the UK’s landfill diversion targets need to be revised, and new terms are needed for the purposes of landfill allowance schemes.  The Landfill (Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2011 sets the revised national targets.  The WET Act 2003 (Amendment) Regulations 2011 specify the part of the new interpretation of “municipal waste” that is covered by the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme and similar schemes in the devolved administrations. These two pieces of legislation do not require members of the public, businesses or local authorities to change their behaviours.

The Regulations are:

• The Landfill Allowance and Trading Scheme (England) Regulations 2004 came into force on 1 April 2005. These Regulations provide detail for the operation of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme in England.
• The Landfill (Scheme Year and Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2004 These Regulations amend the definition of the scheme year to 1 April-31 March and divide the UK’s Landfill Directive targets between the four constituent countries.
• The Landfill (Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2011 came into force on 1 October 2011.  These Regulations set national targets reflecting the new interpretation of ‘municipal waste’.
• The Landfill Allowances and Trading Scheme (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 came into force on 9 May 2005. These Regulations reduce the LATS financial penalty from £200 per tonne to £150 per tonne.
• The Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003 (Amendment) Regulations 2011 came into force on 21 November 2011. These Regulations reflect the new interpretation of the term ‘municipal waste’ and introduce the term “local authority collected municipal waste”.

Contacts

For further information about the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme, please contact the Municipal Waste Policy Team:

Municipal Waste Policy
Waste Strategy Division
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Ergon House
Horseferry Road
London, SW1P 2AL

Email: landfill.policy@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Tel: 020 7238 5283