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WHAT ON EARTH SPRING 2022
Photo: istockphoto.com
How can councils tackle the carbon impact of waste?
Kim Pratt, Circular Economy Campaigner Scotland, like many countries, measures its progress on waste with weight-based targets. This means all of Scotland’s waste is weighed and these measurements are used to calculate our recycling and landfill rates. However, there is a problem with this approach – the easiest way for a council or business to increase its recycling rate is to concentrate on the heaviest materials, like bricks, concrete and soil. Lighter materials, such as textiles and plastics, can be overlooked even though they are more significant in environmental terms (see graph). If we want our waste systems to be more sustainable, a carbon-based target would be a better approach.
Carbon impact of different types of waste Textiles Non-ferrous metals (e.g. aluminium) Batteries Food waste Plastic Ferrous metals (e.g. steel) Glass Paper and card Construction material Soils
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
Carbon impact of waste generation (kgCO2e per t) (Kilograms of carbon emissions per ton = kgCO2e per t) From ZWS (2020)
25,000
