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The composition ofhousehold waste at the kerbside in 2014-15

Summary of findings

Prepared by:Phil WilliamsZero Waste Scotland

Date:November 2017

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Contents1 Summary of findings 4

2 Introduction 7 2.1Studyobjectives 7 2.2 Summaryofmethodology 7 2.3Keyconsiderationswhenreadingthisreport 7

3 How much is collected at the kerbside in total? 9

4 What is thrown away in the residual waste bin? 11 4.1 Whatwethrowawayintheresidualwastebin 11 4.2Whatwethrowawayintheresidualwastebinthatcouldberecycled 11 4.3Whatwethrowawayintheresidualwastebinthatiscurrentlydifficulttorecycle 12 4.4Thebiodegradablecontentoftheresidualwastecollectedatthekerbside 12 4.5Changesinwhatwethrowawayintheresidualwastebinsince2009 13

5 Recycling at the kerbside 16 5.1 Howmanyitemsthatcouldberecycled,areactuallyrecycled? 16 5.2Howcommonisitforthewrongitemstoendupinmixedrecyclingcollections? 17

6 Appendix: Selected waste types in kerbside residual waste 19

7 Reference list 20

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AcknowledgementsZeroWasteScotlandwouldliketoexpressourthankstothelocalauthoritiesthattookpartinthewastecompositionanalysisthatunderpinsthisreport.Withouttheircontribution,thisanalysiswouldnotbepossible.

ThisreportwaspreparedbyPhilWilliams,ResearchandEvaluationteamatZeroWasteScotland,withvaluableinputfromZeroWasteScotlandcolleagues.ThedetailedanalysisofwastecompositionandwastedataflowdatasetsthatunderpinsthefindingsinthisreportwascarriedoutbyTimReid.Theextensiveprogrammeofwastecompositionanalysisconductedbetween2013and2015wasdeliveredbyPollyGriffiths,TimReidandDanielStunell.

SomeofthewastecompositiondatausedinnationalestimateswasgeneratedusinghouseholdsamplingframeworksdevelopedusingExperian/MOSAIC©Experian2015socio-demographicdata.

If you would like more information on this project please call Zero Waste Scotland on 01786 433 930 and ask to speak to our research and evaluation team, alternatively use the contact form on our website:

zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/contact-form

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1 Summary of findings

ThisreportprovidesnewestimatesforthecompositionofhouseholdwastecollectedatthekerbsideinScotlandin2014-15,fromthephysicalanalysisofwaste.

Thereportcoversthecontentsoftheresidualwaste,whichisthebinthatshouldbeusedtodisposeofwastesthatcannotberecycled.Weusethetermresidualwaste,regardlessofwhetherthecontentsofthatbincouldberecycledornot.

Thereportalsocoversthecontentsofmixedrecyclingcontainersprovidedtohouseholds,andweusetheterm“non-recyclable”wastewithinrecyclingcontainerstodefinewastesnottypicallyrecycledanywherewithinalocalauthorityservicee.gnon-recyclablepaperanddisposablenappies.

Ouranalysisexcludeshouseholdwastecollectedatnon-kerbsidelocations,suchasrecyclingpointsandhouseholdwasterecyclingcentres.It’sworthrememberingthatsignificantquantitiesofhouseholdwastematerial–particularlyrecycleditems–arealsocollectedviathesenon-kerbsideroutes,sooverallhouseholdrecyclingperformanceisnotidentifiedinthiskerbsideanalysisalone.

Thelasttimeasimilarstudywasconductedwasin20091,sothefindingsprovideanimportantupdateonkerbsidewastecomposition.

Our analysis includes:•Howmuchiscollectedatthekerbsideintotal?•Whatisthrownawayintheresidualwastebin?•Changesinwhatwethrowawayintheresidual

wastebinsince2009•Howmanyitemsthatcouldberecycledatthe

kerbside,areactuallyrecycled?•Howcommonisitforthewrongitemstoendup

inmixedrecyclingcollections?

Thefindingsinthisreportarebasedonaprogrammeofwastecompositionanalysiscarriedoutbetween2013and2015,andhouseholdwastetonnagesreportedbylocalauthoritiesin2014or2015.Findingsarerepresentativeofthe2014-15period.

Thisreportfocusesondescribingwhathouseholdsthrowawayandrecycle,inordertohighlighttheopportunitiesforfurtherwasteprevention,recyclinganddiversionfromlandfill.Wedoprovidesummaryanalysisoftheavoidedcarbonemissionsandlandfilltaxassociatedwithcurrentlevelsofkerbsiderecycling,butitwasbeyondthescopeofthisstudytocarryoutamoredetailedenvironmentalandeconomicimpactanalysis2.

Toaccompanythisreport,ZeroWasteScotlandhasalsoproducedamoredetailedmethodologydocumentdesignedfortechnicalreaders,anexceldatasetofkeyfindings,andasetoffrequentlyaskedquestions.

How much is collected at the kerbside in total? Ifweaddupeverythingcollectedfromhouseholdsatthekerbside–i.e.bothintheresidualwastebin,andinrecyclingcollections–Scottishhouseholdsput1.78milliontonnesofmaterialintokerbsidecollectionsin2014-15.Foodwastes,paperandcardboard,gardenwaste,andglasswastemadeupnearly1.2milliontonnes,or68%ofthetotal.Foodwastesmadeupthelargestsinglewastetypeatjustunder410,000tonnes,or23%ofthetotal.Please see Section 3 of this report for further details.

What is thrown away in the residual waste bin?Ifweconsiderjustthewastethatwentintohouseholdresidualbins,thisaddsupto1.13milliontonnes.Themostcommonlyoccurringwastetypeswerefoodwaste,paperandcardboard,healthcarewasteandplasticfilms,andcollectivelymadeupjustover710,000tonnes,or63%ofthetotal.Foramoredetailedbreakdownofwhatisthrownawayintheresidualwastebin,please see Section 4.1 ofthis report.

Weestimatethatapproximately670,000tonnes,orjustunder60%oftheresidualwaste,ismadeupofwastetypesthatcouldtypicallyhavebeenrecycledwithexistingkerbsiderecyclingservices.Thisequatestojustover275kilogrammesofwasteperhouseholdperyear,or125kilogrammesperpersonperyear.Please see Section 4.2 of this reportfor further details.

Theresidualwastealsocontainssignificantquantitiesofdisposablenappiesandplasticpackagingfilms,whicharepotentiallyrecyclablebutwhereestablishingsustainable

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collectionandreprocessingfacilitieshasprovedchallengingtodate.Please see Section 4.3 of this report for further details.

Ofthe1.13milliontonnesofkerbsideresidualwaste,weestimatethatapproximately680,000tonnes(or60%)isbio-degradable.FoodwasteandPaperandCarddominatethebio-degradableportionofresidualwaste,makingupapprox.49%and25%respectively.Please see Section 4.4 ofthis report for further details.

Changes in what we throw away in the residual waste bin since 2009Between2009and2014-15,theoverallquantityofhouseholdresidualwastecollectedatthekerbsidereducedbyapproximately317,000tonnes(or22%),from1.45milliontonnesin2009to1.13milliontonnesin2014-15.

In2014-15ouranalysisestimatesthatjustunderjustunder640,000tonnesofwasteintotalwascollectedforrecyclingatthekerbside.Whencomparedtosendingthiswastetolandfill,byrecyclingweavoidedover525,000tonnesofCO2eemissions3and£52millioninlandfilldisposalcosts4.

Sixofthesevenwastetypesinoursummaryanalysishaveallreducedintermsofwhatwethrowawayintheresidualwaste(whichlikelyreflectstheincreasedprovisionofkerbsiderecyclingservices).However,thescaleofchangesince2009andopportunitiesforfurtherrecyclingarenotequal.

Foodwastehasshownthelargestabsolutereduction,fromapprox.420,0005tonnesin2009,to330,000tonnesin2014-15(approx.90,000tonnesreduction).However,foodwasteremainsthelargestsinglewastetypeintheresidualwastestreamin2014-15.Thecurrentstudyisbynatureasnapshotintime,whichtookplaceatatimeofsignificantchangeinlocalauthorityrecyclingservices,includingtheintroductionofadditionalfoodwastecollections.Themostrecentlocalauthoritydatafor2016suggeststherehasbeenarelativelymodestincreaseintherecyclingoffoodwasteatthekerbside,butwethinkourestimatesforthequantitythrownawayarestillbroadlyrepresentativeofthescaleoftheissue.

Healthcarewastes(whichincludedisposablenappiesandotherabsorbenthygieneproducts)haveshownasmalldecline(13,000tonnesor8%of2009)between2009and2014-15.

Ofthesevenmostcommonlyoccurringwastestypesintheresidualwaste,plasticfilmsaretheonlytypethathasincreasedinabsolutetermsbetweenthetwoperiods,from69,000tonnesin2009to85,000tonnesin2014-15.However,estimatesforplasticfilmsshouldbetreatedwithsomecaution,owingtothepotentialforcontaminationwithotherwasteduringcompositionanalysis.Theevidencewedohavesuggeststhatalloftheincreaseinplasticfilmsbetweenthetwoperiodsisduetootherplasticfilms(excludingbinlinersandcarrierbags),whichcouldreflectboththeincreaseduseofthispackagingtypeinhouseholdgroceriesandalackofrecyclingservicesforthiswaste.

Please see Section 4.5 of this report for further detailsofchangesinwhatwethrowawaysince2009.

How many items that could be recycled at the kerbside,are recycled?Wedefinecorrectrecyclingastheproportionoftheoverallkerbsidetonnagethatweestimateisfoundinthecorrectrecyclingservice,forasetofwastetypestypicallycollectedatthekerbside.Ouranalysisfocusesontheeighteenlocalauthoritiesthattookpartinwastecompositionanalysis.Weexcludeanydatapointswherealocalauthoritydidnottargetagivenwastetypeatthekerbside(e.gwhereglasswasnottargetedatthekerbsideandhouseholdsareencouragedtousebringbanks).Ouranalysisisthereforetypicalcorrectrecyclingwhentargetedatthekerbside,aswethinkthisisanalyticallymoreuseful.

Therewasawiderangeincorrectrecyclingatthekerbsideforagivenwastetype.Theaveragecorrectrecyclingforglasswas63%.Correctrecyclingofgardenwastewastypicallyveryhigh(89%),whereastypicallyonly27%ofkerbsidefoodwasteisestimatedtobefoundinafoodwasterecyclingservice.Evenwhererecyclingservicesarewellestablished(e.gpaper),typically73%iscorrectlyrecycled(withaminimumof36%).

Ouranalysissuggeststhatdespitesignificantinvestmentinkerbsiderecyclingservicesinrecentyears,asignificantnumberofhouseholdsarestillnotusingrecyclingservicestotheirfullpotential.

Forfurtherdetailsofcorrectrecyclingatthekerbside,please see Section 5.1.

How common is it for the wrong items to end up in mixed recycling collections?Contaminationofrecyclingservicesiswherethewrongitemsendupintherecyclingcollection.Contaminationresultsinincreasedwastemanagementcosts,throughequipmentdamage,additionalsorting,operationalcostsandwastedisposalchargesresultingfromreducedqualityandeconomicvalueofmaterials.Additionally,collectionandsortingstaffareputatriskfromdealingwithcontaminatedrecycling.

Wastecompositionanalysiswascarriedoutonthirteenlocalauthoritydrymixedrecyclingservices(commonlyreferredtoas“co-mingledrecycling”),whichenabledustoassessthedegreeofcontamination(i.ewastetypesincorrectlyplacedintherecyclingbin).Non-targetmaterials(whichareitemsthatcouldberecycledincurrentservices,butwhichhavebeenplacedinthewrongcontainer–e.g.glassinapapercollection)andnon-recyclablewastes(whichareitemsthatcannotberecycledincurrentkerbsideservices)typicallymakeup19%oftheoverallrecyclingbin,butrangedfromamaximumof30%contaminationintheworstcasetoaminimumof9%inthebest.

Themostcommonlyoccurringnon-targetwastesareglass,foodwaste,textilesandfootwear,whereasthemostcommonlyoccurringnon-recyclablewastesareplasticfilms,non-packagingdenseplastic,disposablenappiesandotherscrapmetal.Further details are provided in Section 5.2.

Wastecompositionanalysiswasalsocarriedoutonfiverecyclingcollectionswherelessco-minglingtookplace6.

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Targetmaterialstypicallymadeup93%oftherecyclingcontainer,andrangedfromaminimumof90%toamaximumof97%.Wastethathadbeenincorrectlyplacedintherecycling(non-targetandnon-recyclablecontaminationcombined)typicallymadeup7%,andrangedfromaminimumof3%toamaximumof10%oftherecycling

container.Therelativelylowlevelsofcontaminationintheseservicesarecontrastedwithourfindingsfortheco-mingledcollectionsdescribedabove,wherenon-targetandnon-recyclablewastestypicallymadeup19%oftheoverallrecyclingbin.

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2 Introduction

2.1 Study objectivesTheobjectiveofthisstudywastoprovidenewestimatesforthecompositionofhouseholdwastecollectedatthekerbsideinScotlandin2014-15,fromthephysicalanalysisofwaste.Thelasttimeasimilarstudywasconductedwasin2009,sothefindingsprovideanimportantupdateonkerbsidewastecomposition.

Theinformationcanbeusedbylocalandnationalgovernmenttoinformtheirwastemanagementpolicyandcommunications,andsupporttechnicalpractitionersworkinginthefieldsofresourcemanagementandthecirculareconomy.

Our analysis includes:•Howmuchiscollectedatthekerbsideintotal?•Whatisthrownawayintheresidualwastebin?•Changesinwhatwethrowawayintheresidual

wastebinsince2009•Howmanyitemsthatcouldberecycledatthe

kerbside,areactuallyrecycled?•Howcommonisitforthewrongitemstoendup

inmixedrecyclingcollections?

Wefocusonthecompositionofhouseholdwastecollectedatthekerbside,asthisisbyfarthelargestcomponentofhouseholdwastemanagedbylocalauthorities.Wedonotincludehouseholdwastescollectedviabringbanks,householdwasterecyclingcentresandotherlesscommoncollectionroutes.ThismeansthatourfindingsarenotcomparabletothehouseholdrecyclingfigurespublishedbytheScottishEnvironmentProtectionAgency(SEPA).

Individualwastecompositionstudiesweredesignedtoberepresentativeoftherangeofhouseholdsinagivenlocalauthorityarea,butwedidnotsetouttostudytheeffectsofsocio-demographicfactorsonwastecomposition.Studiestypicallyusedtwophasesofsampling,asanattempttosmoothvariationincompositionduetoanyseasonaleffects.However,torobustlyapproachtheeffectsofseasononwastecompositionwasbeyondthescopeofthisproject.

2.2 Summary of methodologyAseparatetechnicalmethodologydocumenthasbeenwrittentoprovideagreaterlevelofdetailonhowwearrivedatnationalestimates.Insummary,ourmethodologyconsistsofusinginformationfromthreesources:

•WastecompositionanalysisofkerbsideresidualandmixedrecyclingstreamsfromeighteenScottishlocalauthoritiesbetween2013and2015

•Wastecompositionanalysisofkerbsidemixedfoodandgardenwastecollectionsbetween2011and2014

•Wastetonnagesreportedascollectedatthekerbsidebyallthirty-twolocalauthoritiesonwastedataflowin2014and2015

Secondaryanalysisofthedatasetsisthencarriedoutinordercalculatenationalestimates.

2.3 Key considerations when reading this reportThisreportisdesignedtobeasummaryofkeyfindings.Ouranalysisfocusesonthemostcommonlyoccurringwastetypes,andthosewhichhighlightparticularissues(e.gtypicallevelsofwasteandcorrectrecycling).

For a more complete national kerbside waste composition dataset please refer to the excel tables that accompanythis report.

AshighlightedinSection2.1,wefocusonhouseholdwastecollectedatthekerbside,anddonotincludehouseholdwastescollectedviabringbanks,civicamenitysitesandotherlesscommoncollectionroutes.Therefore,ouranalysisisnotacompleteanalysisoflocalauthorityornationalrecyclingperformance7.

Thewastecompositionanalysisthatunderpinsthisstudytookplaceduring2013-15,whichwasatimeofsignificantchangeinlocalauthoritywasteservices.Participatinglocalauthoritieswereunderstandablykeentosamplefromhouseholdswherenewrecyclingserviceshadrecentlybeenimplemented.Inouranalysis,wehavematchedwastecompositiondatatothemostappropriatereportingyearonwastedataflow.Infinalanalysisweused2014datafortwentysixlocalauthoritiesand2015dataforsixlocalauthorities.Ouranalysisisthereforerepresentativeofa2014-15period

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andnationaltonnageswereportwillbeverycloseto,butnotexactlymatchthosereportedonwastedataflowforeither2014or2015.

Ouranalysisofwhatwethrowawayintheresidualwastenationally(Section 4.2)identifieswastetypesthatwedefineastypicallyrecycledatthekerbsidenationally.Ouranalysisassumeslocalauthoritiescollectthesewastetypesatthekerbsideandwedonotadjustouranalysisintherarecaseswherethisisnotthecase8.Weexcludewastesthatarenottypicallytargetedforrecyclingatthekerbside9.

Ouranalysisofrecyclingatthekerbside(Section 5.1)focusesontheeighteenlocalauthoritiesthattookpartinwastecompositionanalysis.Inoursummaryanalysisweexcludeanylocalauthoritiesthatdidnottargetarecyclablewastetypeatthekerbside,butwedonotadjustforanyvariationinservicecoverage10.

Alltonnagedatainthisreportwillnormallyhavebeenroundedtotwosignificantfiguresandthereforemaynotsumexactly.

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3 How much is collected at the kerbside in total?

Thissectionsummarisestheoverallcompositionofwhatisthrownawayintheresidualwasteandrecycledatthekerbsidebyhouseholds.

Ofthe1.78milliontonnesofhouseholdwasteandrecyclingcollectedatthekerbsideinouranalysis,foodwastes,paperandcardboard,gardenwasteandglasswastemakeupnearly1.2milliontonnes,or68%ofthetotal.

Foodwastesmakeupthelargestsinglewastetypeatjustunder410,000tonnes,or23%ofthetotal.Weestimateatypicalhouseholdproducesjustunder169kilogrammesoffoodwasteeachyearatthekerbside,orapprox.76kilogrammespercapita11.Readersinterestedinamorecompletepictureoffoodwastesproducedinthehome(includingthecontributionofdisposalbyotherroutesandtherelativeproportionsofavoidableandunavoidablefoodwaste)shouldrefertotheseparatefoodwastestudyproducedbyZeroWasteScotland12.Paperandcardboardisthesecondlargestwastetypeatjustover360,000tonnes,or20%ofthetotalkerbsidewaste.Weestimateatypicalhouseholdproducesjustunder150kilogrammesofpaperandcardboardeachyearatthekerbside,orapprox.68kilogrammespercapitaperyear.Ofthetotalpaperandcard,newspapersandmagazines,non-recyclablepaperandotherrecyclablepapermakeupapprox.130,000tonnes,56,000tonnesand48,000tonnesrespectively.Thincardpackaging,boardpackagingandbeveragecartonsmakeupapprox.62,000tonnes,42,000tonnesand6,800tonnesrespectively.

Gardenwastemakesupthejustover300,000tonnes,or17%ofthetotal.Weestimateatypicalhouseholdproducesjustunder124kilogrammesofgardenwasteeachyearatthekerbside,orapprox.56kilogrammespercapitaperyear.Therewillalsobesignificantquantitiesofgardenwastetakentohouseholdrecyclingcentresandcompostedathome.

Glassmakesupjustunder134,000tonnes,or8%ofthetotalkerbsidewaste.Therewillalsobesignificantquantitiesofhouseholdglasscollectedatbringbanksandhouseholdrecyclingcentres.Weestimateatypicalhouseholdproducesjustover55kilogrammesofglasseachyearatthekerbside,orjustunder25kilogrammespercapitaperyear.Weestimatethatclear,greenandbrowncontainerglassmakeup76,000tonnes,34,000tonnesand20,000tonnesrespectively.Non-packagingglasscontributesjustover4,000tonnes.

“Allother”wastesarecomprisedofthirteenbroadwastetypesandapprox.570,000tonnesor32%ofthetotal,andaredominatedbyhealthcarewaste(justover125,000tonnesor7%),plasticfilms(justover92,000tonnesor5%)anddenseplastic(75,000tonnesor4%).Ofthe125,000tonnesofhealthcarewastes,weestimatethereisapprox.57,000tof

8% Glass waste

17%Garden waste

20%Paper and cardboard

23%Food waste

32%All other

Figure 1 The composition of all household waste collected at the kerbside in 2014-15, with the four largest waste types, and thirteen other waste types combined into “All other” category.

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disposablenappiesinthekerbsidewaste.

Specificrecyclablewastetypesthatcontributetothe“allother”combinedcategorymaybeofinteresttothereprocessingsector.Weestimatethereisapprox.54,000tonnesofplasticbottlesinthekerbsidewasteintotal,whichincludes28,000tonnesofpolyethyleneterephthalate(PET)

drinkbottlesand18,000tonnesofhighdensitypolyethylene(HDPE)drinkbottles.Metalwastesareestimatedtomakeup62,000tonnesor3.5%ofthekerbsidewaste,ofwhichsteelcansandaluminiumcansmakeup21,000tonnesand13,000tonnesrespectively,andsteelandaluminiumaerosolsmakeup2,500tonnesand3,000tonnesrespectively.

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4 What is thrown away in the residual waste bin?

Thefollowingsectioncoversthecontentsoftheresidualwaste,whichisthebinthatshouldbeusedtodisposeofwastesthatcannotberecycled.Weusethetermresidualwaste,regardlessofwhetherthecontentsofthatbincouldberecycledornot.

Themajorityofwhatwethrowawayintheresidualwastebinissenttolandfillorincinerationandwillnotberecycled.

This section summarises: •Whatwethrowawayintheresidualwastebin•Whatwethrowawaythatcouldberecycled•Whatwethrowawaythatiscurrentlydifficultto

recycle•Changesinwhatwethrowawaysince2009•Thebiodegradablecontentofhousehold residualwaste

4.1 What we throw away in the residual waste binOfthe1.13milliontonnesofhouseholdresidualwastecollectedatthekerbsideinouranalysis,foodwaste,paperandcardboard,healthcarewasteandplasticfilmsmakeupjustover710,000tonnes,or63%ofthetotal.

Figure 2 The composition of household residual waste collected at the kerbside in 2014-15, with the four largest waste types, and thirteen other waste types combined into “All other” category.

Foodwastesmakeupthelargestsinglewastetypeinthekerbsideresidualwaste,atjustover330,000tonnes,or29%ofthetotal.Weestimateatypicalhouseholdthrewawayjustover137kilogrammesoffoodwastein2014-15intheresidualwastebin,orapprox.62kilogrammespercapitaperyear.

PaperandCardboardisthesecondlargestwastetypethrownawayintheresidualwaste,atjustover170,000tonnes,or15%ofthetotal.Weestimateatypicalhouseholdthrowsawayjustover70kilogrammesofPaperandCardboardeachyear,or32kilogrammespercapitaperyear.

Healthcarewastesmakeupjustover120,000tonnesor11%ofthetotal,andincludesapprox.57,000tofdisposablenappiesand56,000tonnesofanimalbeddingandfaeces.

Plasticfilmsmakeupjustover85,000tonnes,or8%ofthekerbsideresidualwaste.Ifweexcludecarrierbagsandbinslinersfromthistotal,allotherfilms(typicallycomprisingfoodpackaging)totaljustunder57,000tonnes.Wethinkplasticfilmsarelikelytobeanoverestimate,asthiswastetypeisparticularlypronetotheeffectsofcontaminationbyfoodandotherputresciblewastesduringwastecompositionanalysis13.

“Allother”wastesarecomprisedofthirteenwastetypesandapprox.420,000tonnesor37%ofthetotal,andaredominatedbyGlasswaste(75,000tonnesor7%),Textilesandfootwear(65,000tonnesor6%),Denseplastics(62,000tonnesor6%),andGardenwaste(61,000tonnesor5%).

4.2 What we throw away in the residual waste bin that could be recycledThissectionfocusesonthosewastetypesfoundintheresidualwastethataretypicallytargeted14forrecyclingbylocalauthoritiesusingkerbsideservices.Ouranalysisisagrossnationalestimatetohighlightthescaleofwhatwecurrentlythrowawaythatcouldhavebeenrecycled.Wedonotaccountforanyvariationinthecoverageofkerbsideservicesforindividuallocalauthorities.Forexample,alocalauthoritymaynotcollectglassatthekerbside,oronlyapercentageofhouseholdsinalocalauthorityareamightbeprovidedwithaparticularrecyclingservice.

Despitesignificantincreasesintheprovisionofkerbsiderecyclingservicesinrecentyears,weestimatethatapprox.670,000tonnes,or59%ofthe1.13milliontonnesofresidual

8% Plastic film

11%Healthcare waste

15%Paper and cardboard

29%Food waste

37%All other

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wasteismadeupofwastetypesthataretypicallyrecycledatthekerbsideinScotland.Thisequatestojustover275kilogrammesperhouseholdeachyear,or125kilogrammesperpersoneachyear.

Figure 3 The proportion of what we throw away in the kerbside residual waste that is typically recycled at the kerbside.

Oftheremaining41%ofresidualwasteinFigure3,weestimatethat130,000tonnescouldhavebeenrecycledathouseholdwasterecyclingcentres,bottlebanksandsimilar(e.gclothingandtextiles,constructionwastes),and333,000tonnesismadeupofwastesthathavetodateprovedchallengingtoestablishsustainablerecyclingservices(e.gdisposablenappies,denseplastics).

Figure4belowhighlightsselectedwastetypesthrownawayintheresidualwastewhicharetypicallyrecycledatthekerbside.Wehavefocusedonthosewastetypeswhicharelikelyofinteresttolocalauthoritywastemanagersandthereprocessingsector.Toaidinterpretationonlytonnagesover5,000tonnesareshown.Wehavealsoexcludedthe330,000tonnesoffoodwastetypicallyrecycledatthekerbsidethatisfoundintheresidualwaste,sothattheother(smaller)tonnagesarevisibleinFigure4.PleaseseeTable6.1intheappendixforthedatathatunderpinsFigure4,includingquantitiesexpressedonapercapitaandperhouseholdbasis.

Figure 4 Selected waste types typically recycled at the kerbside which are thrown away in the residual waste. Only tonnages over 5,000 are shown and we have excluded the additional 330,000 tonnes of food waste typically recycled at the kerbside that is found in the residual waste. All tonnages rounded to two significant figures.

Thescaleofwhatwethrowawayrepresentsachallengetoallofus.Alargeportionofwhatwethrowawaycurrentlyendsupinlandfill,whichresultsingreenhousegasemissionsasitdegrades.Recyclingmoreofthesematerialsnotonlystopsthisgasbeingproducedinlandfill,butwillalsoreducethecarbonemissionsassociatedwithmanufacturingproductsfromprimaryrawmaterials(e.gtheoilandotherproductsthatareusedtoproduceaplasticbottle),whichtypicallyhasalargerimpactonourglobalenvironment.

Wealsopayaheavyeconomicpriceforthiswaste–directlythroughlocalauthoritycostsofdisposal,andindirectlythroughthelostvalueofthismaterialtoScotland’seconomy

4.3 What we throw away in the residual waste bin that is currently difficult to recycle Inadditiontothelargequantitiesofwastethatweestimatecouldberecycledusingtypicalkerbsideservices,residualwastealsocontainssomewastetypesthathavethepotentialtoberecyclable,butwhereestablishingsustainablecollectionandreprocessingcapacityhasprovedchallengingtodate.

Weestimatethereisapprox.57,000tofdisposablenappiesand85,000tonnesofplasticfilmsinthekerbsideresidualwasteinScotland.AspreviouslyhighlightedinSection4.1,wethinkplasticfilmsgenerallyareparticularlypronetoover-estimationduringwastecompositionanalysis,sofiguresshouldbetreatedasindicative.

4.4 The biodegradable content of the residual waste bincollected at the kerbside

Thebio-degradablecontentofkerbsideresidualwastecollectedatthekerbsideisofinteresttolocalauthoritywastemanagers,andtechnicalandpolicypractitionersworkinginthefieldsofresourcemanagementandthecirculareconomy.

59%of what we throw

away could be recycled

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Clear container glass

Dense plastic packaging exc. EPS

Green garden waste

Newspaper, magazines

Thin card packaging

Other recyclable paper

Board packaging

PET drink bottles

Green container glass

Cans - steel

Brown container glass

HDPE drink bottles

Aluminium packaging

Cans - aluminium

Other plastic bottles

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Ofthe1.13milliontonnesofresidualwastecollectedatthekerbside,weestimatethatapproximately680,000tonnes(or60%)isbiodegradable.Itisimportanttohighlightthatourestimateisbasedonthecompositionofresidualwasteatthepointofcollectionatthekerbside.It’slikelyalargeproportionofthatwastewillbelandfilleddirectly,butaportionwillbetreated15toremovebothbio-degradableandnon-biodegradablewastes,thereforepotentiallyalteringthebiodegradablecontent.

FoodwasteandPaperandCarddominatethebio-degradableportionofresidualwaste,makingupapprox.49%and25%respectively.Intotal,justunder500,000tonnes(or72%)ofthebiodegradablewastefractionofresidualwasteismadeupofwastetypesthataretypicallyrecycledatthekerbside.Afocusonfoodwasteandpaperandcardwillbeimportantineffortstoreducethebiodegradablecontentofkerbsideresidualwaste.However,therearealsosignificantquantitiesofbiodegradablewastewhichtodatehaveprovedchallengingtorecyclecost-effectively(e.gdisposablenappies).

Therearelikelytobeanumberofrelatedfactors16thatinfluencetheoverallbiodegradablecontentofkerbsideresidualwaste,whichwerebeyondthescopeofthecurrentstudy.

Figure 5 The composition of kerbside residual waste (tonnes), according to bio-degradable content. The five largest bio-degradable waste types and combined “all other biodegradable” is shown for clarity. The contribution of non-biodegradable waste is also provided for context.

4.5 Changes in what we throw away in the residual waste bin since 2009In2009ZeroWasteScotlandpublishedthefirststudyofthecompositionofmunicipalwasteinScotland17,whichincludedthecompositionofhouseholdresidualwastecollectedatthekerbside.Whilethescopeofthe2009studywasbroader,thekeyaspectsofmethodologyaresufficientlysimilartoenablecomparisonswiththecurrentfindings.

FromFigure6belowtheoverallquantityofhouseholdresidualwastecollectedatthekerbsidebetweenthetwo

periodshasreducedby317,000tonnes,from1.45milliontonnesin2009to1.13milliontonnes18in2014-15.

In2014-15Scottishhouseholdsrecycledjustunder640,000tonnesofcommonwastetypesatthekerbside.Whencomparedtosendingthiswastetolandfill,byrecyclingweavoidedover525,000tonnesofCO2eemissions19and52millioninlandfilldisposalcosts20.

Figure 6 The overall quantity of household residual waste collected at the kerbside, from the previous waste composition study in 2009 and the current study.

OnthefollowingpageFigure7summarisesthechangeintonnageofthesevenmostcommonlyoccurringmaterialsintheresidualwastebetween2009and2014-15.Sixofthesevenwastetypeshaveallreducedintonnage,butthescaleofreductionandopportunitiesforfurtherrecyclingisnotequal.

450,000Non-biodegradable

330,000Food waste

170,000Paper and cardboard

88,000Healthcare waste

43,000Garden waste

52,000All other biodegradable

2009 2014-15

1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

14

2009 2014 - 15

Healthcare waste 130,000

Dense plastic 110,000

Glass waste 85,000Textiles & footwear 79,000

Plastic film 69,000

Paper and cardboard 240,000

170,000

120,000

85,00075,00065,00062,000

Food waste 420,000

330,000

Figure 7 The seven largest waste types (tonnes) in household residual waste collected at the kerbside in 2014-15, compared to previous composition analysis published in 2009. All data rounded to two significant figures.

15

Foodwastehasshownthelargestabsolutereduction,fromapprox.420,00021tonnesin2009,to330,000tonnesin2014-15(approx.90,000tonnesreduction).Thislikelyreflectsboththeintroductionoffoodwastecollectionservices,andwastepreventionbyhouseholders.However,thereareclearlystillverylargequantitiesoffoodwasteremainingintheresidualwastebinin2014-15thatcouldberecycled.

Thecurrentstudyisbynatureasnapshotintimewhichtookplaceatatimeofsignificantchangeinlocalauthorityrecyclingservices,includingtheintroductionofadditionalfoodwastecollections.Oftheeighteenlocalauthoritiesthattookpartinwastecompositionanalysis,fifteencollectedfoodwasteseparatelyormixedwithgardenwaste.Localauthoritiesreportedseparatelycollectedfoodwasteof38,301tonnes,55,244tonnesand62,203tonnesin2014,2015and2016respectively.Theyalsoreported102,330tonnes,104,968tonnesand135,296tonnesofmixedfoodandgardenwastein2014,2015and2016respectively.Themostrecentlocalauthoritydatafor2016suggeststherehasbeenarelativelymodestincreaseintherecyclingoffoodwasteatthekerbside,butwethinkourestimatesforthequantitythrownawayarestillbroadlyrepresentativeofthescaleoftheissue.

Denseplasticshowedthelargestproportionalreduction,from110,000to62,000tonnes,ora44%reductionon2009.Thisreductioncouldreflectincreasedacceptanceandcaptureinrecyclingservices,butcouldalsobeatleastpartlyinfluencedbychangesinpackagingdesign(e.g“lightweighting”).

Healthcarewastes(whichincludedisposablenappiesandotherabsorbenthygieneproducts)haveshownasmalldeclinebetween2009and2014-15,fromapprox.130,000tonnesto120,000tonnes.AshighlightedinSection4.3,ithasprovedchallengingtoestablishsustainablerecyclingservicestargetingthiswastetype.

Ofthesevenmostcommonlyoccurringwastestypesintheresidualwaste,plasticfilmsaretheonlytypethathasincreasedinabsolutetermsbetweenthetwoperiods,from69,000tonnesin2009to85,000tonnesin2014-15.

However,ashighlightedinSection4.1,estimatesforplasticfilmsshouldbetreatedwithsomecaution,owingtothepotentialforcontaminationwithotherputresciblewastesduringcompositionanalysis.Thewastetype“plasticfilms”usedinouranalysisincludesotherplasticfilms(typicallyflexiblefoodpackaging),wastebinlinersandcarrierbags.Ourevidencesuggeststhatalloftheincreaseinplasticfilmsbetweenthetwoperiodsisduetootherplasticfilms,whichcouldreflectboththeincreaseduseofthispackagingtypeinhouseholdgroceriesandalackofrecyclingservicesforthiswaste.

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5 Recycling at the kerbside

Thissectionprovidesasummaryofthetypicalproportionsofcorrectrecyclingatthekerbsideandtypicallevelsofcontaminationfoundindrymixedrecyclingcollections.Wefocusonusingdatafromtheeighteenlocalauthoritiesthattookpartinwastecompositionanalysis.Unlikethenationalestimatesinsections3and4,wedonotextrapolatetolocalauthoritiesthatdidnottakepartinwastecompositionanalysis.

InSection5.2weusetheterm“non-recyclable”wastewithinrecyclingcontainerstodefinewastesnottypicallyrecycledanywherewithinalocalauthorityservicee.gnon-recyclablepaperanddisposablenappies.

5.1 How many items that could be recycled, are actually recycled?Thissectioncombinesdataonthecompositionofkerbsideresidualwaste,withmixedandsegregatedrecycling,inordertoestimatetheproportionofcorrectrecyclingatthekerbside.Wedefinecorrectrecyclingastheproportionoftheoverallkerbsidetonnagethatweestimateisfoundinthecorrectkerbsiderecyclingservice.Weprovideaverage,maximumandminimum%correctrecyclingforeightwastetypestypicallyrecycledatthekerbside.Ouranalysisfocuses

ontheeighteenlocalauthoritiesthattookpartinwastecompositionanalysis.Weexcludeanydatapointswherealocalauthoritydidnottargetagivenwastetypeatthekerbside22.Ouranalysisisthereforecorrectrecyclingwhentargetedatthekerbside,aswethinkthisisanalyticallymoreuseful.

Ouranalysisisawholelocalauthorityassessmentofwhatiscollectedforrecyclingatthekerbside,asaproportionofthetotaloccurringatthekerbside(fromcompositionalanalysisofwhatisthrownawayintheresidualwaste).Wedonotmakeanyadjustmentforkerbsideservicecoverage,wherearecyclingservicewasprovidedtoonlyapercentageofthehouseholdsinalocalauthorityarea.

FromFigure8,thereisawiderangeincorrectrecyclingatthekerbside.

Theaveragecorrectrecyclingforglasswas63%,withamaximumof84%andaminimumof12%.Theminimumvalueforglassmayreflectmorewidespreaduseofalternativeglassrecycling(bringbanksetc.),whichwasbeyondthescopeofthisstudy.

Figure 8 The proportions (%) of eight typically recycled waste types that we estimate are correctly recycled at the kerbside. The minimum (blue), average (grey) and maximum (black) are provided for each waste type. Number of local authorities that observations are based on is 18 (unless highlightedin brackets).

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Garden waste (17)

Paper

Glass (14)

Card

Cartons

Metals

Plastics

Food waste (15)

41%

36%

12%

17%

13%

15%

13%

9%

89% 100%

86%

84%

80%

66%

69%

61%

48%

73%

63%

60%

41%

39%

37%

27%

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Themaximumestimateforgardenwaste(99.6%,roundedto100%inFigure8)seemsunrealisticallyhigh,butthereisahighaverage(89%)acrosstheseventeenlocalauthoritieswhichtargetedgardenwasteatthekerbside.

Typically27%ofkerbsidefoodwasteiscorrectlyrecycledatthekerbside,withamaximumof48%.Ashighlightedpreviously,wastecompositionanalysistookplaceduringtherolloutofadditionalfoodwasterecyclingservices,whichwehavetriedtoaccountforbyusingeither2014or2015wastedataflowdata(residualandrecycling)23.

Evenwhererecyclingservicesarewellestablished(e.gpaper),73%istypicallyrecycled,withaminimumof36%correctrecycling.

5.2 How common is it for the wrong items to end up in mixed recycling collections?AlargenumberoflocalauthoritiesinScotlandprovideakerbsidedrymixedrecycling(DMR,orco-mingled)service,typicallytargetingpaper,card,metalsandplasticwastesproducedbyhouseholds.

Contaminationofrecyclingservicesiswherethewrongitemsendupintherecyclingcollection.Contaminationresultsinincreasedcosts,throughequipmentdamage,additionalsorting,operationalcostsandwastedisposalchargesresultingfromreducedqualityandeconomicvalueofmaterials.Additionally,collectionandsortingstaffareputat

riskfromdealingwithcontaminatedrecycling(e.gcutsfromhandsorting).

Wastecompositionanalysiswasconductedonthirteenlocalauthoritydrymixedrecyclingservicesbetween2013and2015andwasteswereclassifiedintothreegroups:

•Target-wastestargetedforcollectionbythelocalauthoritye.grecyclablepaperandcard•Non-target –wastesnottargeted,butweretargetedelsewherebythelocalauthorityservicee.grecyclableglassmightbetargetedusingaseparatekerbsideglasscollection,orviabringbanks•Non-recyclable–wastesnottypicallyrecycledanywherewithinalocalauthorityservicee.gnon-recyclablepaperanddisposablenappies

Weusetheterm“non-recyclable”wastewithinrecyclingcontainerstodefinewastesnottypicallyrecycledanywherewithinalocalauthorityservicee.gnon-recyclablepaperanddisposablenappies.

Figure9summarisestheminimum(lightblue),average(grey)andmaximum(darkgrey)observations(expressedas%ofoverallcomposition)fromthirteensamplesofdrymixedrecycling,fortarget,non-targetandnon-recyclablewaste.

Figure 9 The proportions (%) of target, non-target and non-recyclable waste types in thirteen local authority dry mixed recycling services.The minimum (blue), average (grey) and maximum (black) are provided for each waste type.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Target

Non-target

Non-recyclable

70% 81% 91%

4% 10% 17%

4% 9% 15%

18

Targetmaterialstypicallymadeup81%ofthedrymixedrecyclingserviceswesampledfrom,andrangedfromaminimumof70%toamaximumof91%.

Wastethathasbeenincorrectlyplacedinthedrymixedrecycling(non-targetandnon-recyclablecontaminationcombined)typicallymakesup19%,andcanrangefromaminimumof9%toamaximumof30%.

Contaminationbynon-targetwastestypicallymakeup10%ofthedrymixedrecycling.Themostcommonlyoccurringnon-targetwastetypesareGlasswaste(2.8%,forninedrymixedrecyclingservicesnottargetingglass),Foodwaste(2.5%,allthirteenservices)andTextilesandfootwear(2.2%,allthirteenservices).

Non-recyclablewastestypicallymakeup9%ofthethirteensamplesofdrymixedrecycling,andaretypicallycomprisedofPlasticfilms(2.3%),non-packagingdenseplastic(1.0%),disposablenappies(0.5%)andotherscrapmetal(0.4%).

Wastecompositionanalysiswasalsocarriedoutonfiverecyclingcollectionswherelessco-minglingtookplace24.Targetmaterialstypicallymadeup93%oftherecyclingcontainer,andrangedfromaminimumof90%toamaximumof97%.Wastethathadbeenincorrectlyplacedintherecycling(non-targetandnon-recyclablecontaminationcombined)typicallymadeup7%,andrangedfromaminimumof3%toamaximumof10%oftherecyclingcontainer.Inapreviousstudyofkerbsiderecycling25,similarlylowlevelsofcontaminationwerefoundinrecyclingservicestargetingasmallnumberofmaterials.Therelativelylowlevelsofcontaminationintheseservicesarecontrastedwithourfindingsfortheco-mingledcollectionsdescribedabove,wherenon-targetandnon-recyclablewastestypicallymadeup19%oftheoverallrecyclingbin.

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6 Appendix: Selected waste types in kerbside residual waste

Table6.1belowsummarisestheoccurrenceofselectedwastetypesinkerbsideresidualwaste,whicharetypicallyrecycledatthekerbside.Thequantitiesareexpressedasa

nationalestimate,kilogrammesperhouseholdperyearandkilogrammespercapitaperyear.Please also see Section 4.2 for further details.

Table 6.1 The occurrence of selected waste types in kerbside residual waste, which are typically recycled at the kerbside. Quantities expressed as overall national estimate, kilogrammes per household per year, and kilogrammes per capita per year.

Waste type Typically recycled at the kerbside in the residual waste (Tonnes)

Typically recycled at the kerbside in the residual waste (kg/household/year)

Typically recycled at the kerbside in the residual waste (kg/capita/year)

Food waste 330,000 136.9 61.9

Clear container glass 46,000 19.0 8.6

Dense plastic packaging26 40,000 16.7 7.5

Green garden waste 38,000 15.6 7.1

Newspaper and magazines 35,000 14.3 6.5

Thin Card Packaging 33,000 13.6 6.1

Other Recyclable Paper 26,000 10.6 4.8

Board Packaging 17,000 6.9 3.1

PET drink bottles 15,000 6.2 2.8

Green container glass 14,000 6.0 2.7

Cans - steel 13,000 5.3 2.4

Brown container glass 11,000 4.6 2.1

HDPE drink bottles 9,500 3.9 1.8

Aluminium packaging 8,000 3.3 1.5

Cans - Aluminium 7,200 3.0 1.3

Other plastic bottles 5,400 2.2 1.0

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7 Reference list

1 http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/composition-municipal-waste-scotland

2 ForamoredetailedanalysisofthecarbonimpactsofScotland’swaste,includinghouseholdwaste,pleaseseehttp://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/research-evidence/2014-15-carbon-metric-summary-report.

3 Basedontheemissionssolelyassociatedwithlandfillingwaste.ForamoredetailedanalysisofthecarbonimpactsofScotland’swaste,includinghouseholdwaste,pleaseseehttp://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/research-evidence/2014-15-carbon-metric-summary-report.

4 Basedon2014-15landfilltaxrateof£80pertonne.5 Thefoodwastetonnagefor2009istakenfromupdatedfood

wasteestimatesproducedbyZWSin2014.6 Servicesthattargetedasmallnumberofmaterialtypese.g

cansandplastic.7 Readersinterestedinthisinformationshouldgotothe

householdrecyclingdataset,https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/household-waste-data/

8 Inrelativelyrarecasesawastetypethatwedefineastypicallyrecycledatthekerbsidenationally(e.gglassbottles)maynotbetargetedatthekerbsidebyagivenlocalauthority(i.ehouseholdsareexpectedtouseothernon-kerbsiderecyclingfacilities).

9 Forexample,clothingandtextilesarecommonlycollectedatbringbanks,butnottypicallytargetedatthekerbside.

10Forexample,onlyapercentageofhouseholdsinalocalauthorityareaareprovidedwithagivenrecyclingservice.

11Perperson.12Fortheseparatefoodwastestudyseehttp://www.

zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/Household%20Food%20and%20Drink%20Waste%20Estimates%202014%20Final.pdf.Thisgivesamoredetailedbreakdownoffoodwastearisings(includingsomenon-kerbsideroutes).Estimatesforfoodwastecollectedatthekerbsideinthecurrentstudyandtheearlierstudydifferslightlyduetoslightlydifferentscalingassumptionsbeingused;thesedifferencesarehighlightedintherespectivemethodologysections.Werecommendthededicatedfoodwastestudyispreferredfordiscussionoffoodwasteamounts,andthecurrentstudyispreferredfordiscussionofkerbsidecollectedwasteandrecyclingintheround.

13Duringcompositionalanalysiseffortismadetoseparatewastescontainedwithincarriersbags,binbagsandplasticfilmpackaging,butwethinkit’sunlikelythat100%canberemoved

inpractice.14Readersinterestedintheindividualwastetypesdefinedas

typicallyrecycledatthekerbsideshouldrefertotheappendixoftheseparatemethodologydocument.

15Typicallyviaincinerationandmechanicalandbiologicaltreatment.

16e.gvariationinhouseholderutilisationofservices,collection

frequenciesofallservices,whethergardenwasteandglasswastearetargetedatthekerbside.

17http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/composition-municipal-waste-scotland

18AshighlightedinSection2.3ouranalysisisrepresentativeofa2014-15period.Thenationalresidualwastetonnageusedinouranalysisisverysimilarto,butwillnotexactlymatchthosereportedonwastedataflowforeither2014or2015reportingyear.

19Basedontheemissionssolelyassociatedwithlandfillingwaste.ForamoredetailedanalysisofthecarbonimpactsofScotland’swaste,includinghouseholdwaste,pleaseseehttp://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/research-evidence/2014-15-carbon-metric-summary-report.

20Basedon2014-15landfilltaxrateof£80pertonne.21Thefoodwastetonnagefor2009istakenfromupdatedfood

wasteestimatesproducedin2014.22Atthetimeofwastecompositionstudiesin2013-2015,fourof

theeighteenlocalauthoritiesdidnottargetglassforrecyclingatthekerbside,threedidnotcollectfoodwasteatthekerbside,andasinglelocalauthoritydidnottargetgardenwasteatthekerbside.

23Inthiscase,ifresidualwastecompositiondatarepresentedhouseholdscoveredbyafoodwasteservice,butthelocalauthorityhadonlyrolledouttheserviceinpartduring2014,wewouldnormallyhaveused2015wastedataflowdatainouranalysis.

24Servicesthattargetedasmallnumberofmaterialtypese.gcansandplastic.

25http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/Contamination%20in%20source-separated%20municipal%20and%20business%20recyclate%20in%20the%20UK%20report.pdf

26Excludingexpandedpolystyrene.

21