Waste Landfilled in Scotland 2023

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

Published on 29th October 2024 9:30 AM

This release provides a summary of all waste landfilled in Scotland for calendar year 2023. It excludes Scottish waste landfilled elsewhere. Information on the methodology used to prepare this release and a definition of terms is in the landfilled waste quality report and glossary.

Waste landfilled in Scotland – 2023 calendar year

Key points

  • The total quantity of waste landfilled in Scotland in 2023 was 2.00 million tonnes, a reduction of 346,000 tonnes (14.8%) from 2022. This continues a long term trend with a reduction of 5.06 million tonnes (71.7%) from 2005 and is the lowest annual amount of waste landfilled in Scotland since then (Table 1). The drop in waste landfilled between 2022 and 2023 is likely due to changes in the waste management sector preparing for the 2025 ban of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill1.

  • The largest reduction in waste landfilled in Scotland, in 2023 was seen in Household and similar waste (a decrease of 214,000 tonnes or 28.8% from 2022) and Soils (a decrease of 110,000 tonnes, 17.3% from 2022) (Table 1).

  • The top three categories of waste landfilled in 2023 were Sorting residues (592,000 tonnes, 29.6% of total), Household and similar wastes (530,000 tonnes, 26.5% of total) and Soils (527,000 tonnes, 26.4% of total) (Table S1).

  • A total of 43,800 tonnes of hazardous waste was disposed of to landfill in 2023 (Table 2). This accounts for 2.2% of all waste landfilled. Over half of the hazardous waste landfilled was Other mineral wastes (24,400 tonnes, 55.7%), which primarily comprise insulating materials such as asbestos.

  • The amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW - the biodegradable component of Municipal Waste) disposed of to landfill in 2023, in Scotland was 554,000 tonnes (Figure 3). This was a decrease of 144,000 tonnes (20.7%) from 2022 and a reduction of 1.49 million tonnes (72.8%) since 2005.

Summary table 2023

Table S1. 
Waste landfilled in Scotland 2023 (tonnes) - summary data



Trends in waste landfilled in Scotland (2005 - 2023)

  • The total quantity of waste landfilled in Scotland in 2023 was 2.00 million tonnes, across 41 permitted sites. This was a reduction of 346,000 tonnes (14.8%) from 2022. This is seen within a long term trend of a decrease of 5.1 million tonnes (71.7%) in the total amount of waste landfilled in Scotland since 2005 (Figure 1) and is the lowest amount of waste landfilled, since this record began, in 2005. The drop in waste landfilled between 2022 and 2023 is likely due to changes in the waste management sector preparing for the 2025 ban of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill (Table 1).

  • The decrease in waste landfilled in 2023 was largely due to Household and similar waste, which saw a decrease of 214,000 tonnes (or 28.8% from 2022) and Soils (a decrease of 110,000 tonnes, 17.3% from 2022). These reductions were somewhat offset by an increase of 61,100 tonnes or 37.9% in Mineral wastes from waste treatment and stabilised wastes compared with 2022 (Figure 1).

  • The amount of Hazardous waste landfilled in Scotland in 2023 was 43,800, 2.2% of the total waste landfilled and an increase of 5,790 tonnes (15.2%) compared with 2022. Over the longer term, t amount of hazardous was landfilled in Scotland has reduced by 32,300 tonnes from 76,100 tonnes in 2005 Table 2).

  • Between 2005 and 2012, the largest component of hazardous waste disposed to landfill was Soils and comprised between 62% and 76% . From 2013 onward, that percentage has dropped, and in 2023 comprised 10.6% (4,660 tonnes) (Figure 2). This pattern corresponds to a change in 2012 when a landfill tax exemption for disposing of waste from contaminated land was removed. Soils have since been replaced by Other mineral wastes as the largest component of hazardous waste (ranging from 30% to 67% of the total since 2013) (Figure 2).


Waste landfilled in Scotland (2005 - 2023) - graphs and data

Figure - landfill

Figure 1. 
Waste landfilled in Scotland by category 2005-2023 (tonnes)



Table - landfill

Table 1. 
Waste landfilled in Scotland (tonnes) 2005-2023.



Hazardous waste landfilled in Scotland (2005 - 2023) - graphs and data

Figure - Hazardous landfill

Figure 2. 
Hazardous waste landfilled in Scotland by category 2005-2023 (tonnes)



Table - Hazardous landfill

Table 2. 
Hazardous waste landfilled in Scotland 2005-2023 (tonnes)



Biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) landfilled in Scotland

Municipal waste is defined as waste within certain EWC codes (Table 6), namely all Chapter 20 codes and certain Chapter 15 and 19 codes. Biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) is the fraction of this that will degrade giving rise to methane emissions, over time, when landfilled.

It should be noted that the measure of BMW to landfill differs from that for the 2025 BMW landfill ban, which applies to the whole amount of waste containing BMW, not just the BMW fraction.

In 2023, 554,000 tonnes of BMW were disposed of to landfill in Scotland (Figure 3). This was a decrease of 144,000 tonnes (20.7%) from 2022 and a reduction of 1.49 million tonnes (72.8%) since 2005.

Scotland had a target to reduce the quantity of BMW disposed of to landfill in Scotland to less than 1.26 million tonnes by 20202. Since 2012 Scotland has met this target (Figure 3).

In 2023 the BMW disposed of to landfill comprised mainly two waste categories; EWC 20 03 01 (mixed municipal waste), which comprised 57.7 % of the total and EWC 19 12 12 (Other non-hazardous wastes from mechanical treatment of waste), which comprised 38.7 % of the total (data not shown).

Biodegradable municipal waste landfilled in Scotland (2005 - 2023) - graphs and data

Figure - BMW

Figure 3. 
Biodegradable municipal waste landfilled in Scotland per year (tonnes)



Table - BMW

Table 3. 
Biodegradable municipal waste landfilled in Scotland per year (tonnes)




About landfilled waste atatistics

An Official Statistics publication for Scotland

This is an Official Statistics publication. These statistics have been produced to the high professional standards defined in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which sets out fourteen principles under the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. More information on the Official Statistics Code of Practice web-site.

Lead Statistician - Marie Porter, SEPA

User statement

Data on waste generation and management are collected to support policy development and monitor policy effectiveness, particularly the commitments in Making Things Last - A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland, and Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030. The data contribute to the UK Statistics on waste and are also used extensively by local and central government, the waste industry, researchers and the general public.


Feedback

We welcome feedback on the data from all users including how and why the data are used. This helps us to understand the value of the statistics to external users. Please see our contact details at the bottom of the first page of this notice.

Revisions policy

SEPA will provide information about any revisions made to this release and any associated datasets. Revisions could occur for various reasons, including when data from third parties are unavailable or provisional at the time of publishing or if there are subsequent methodological improvements or refinements. The figures are accurate at the time of publication. However, the data may be updated if further revisions are necessary. Normally these revisions will be published concurrent with the next release.

Revisions to the 2022 waste landfilled in Scotland data since the last statistical publication are shown in Table 4. These changes are due to revised waste returns. Revisions to the historical BMW dataset are shown in Table 5. These revisions are due to small changes in the tools used to produce the data.

Table 4. 
Revisions to the 2022 landfill dataset, showing differnces between the original tonnages (as published in October 2023) and revised tonnages (as updated) by category



Table 5. 
Revisions to the BMW to landfill dataset between 2011 and 2022, showing differences between the original tonnages (as published in October 2023) and the revised tonnages (as updated) by category



Quality report

Data are taken from permitted waste site returns submitted to SEPA. Further information on the methodology can be found in the accompanying landfilled waste quality report.

Enquiries

Enquiries on this publication to: SEPA Communications Department: media@sepa.org.uk

For further contact details please see contact.

Pre-release access

Published 29 October 2024

Besides analytical staff involved in the production and quality assurance of this publication, the following post holders were given pre-release access up to 5 days before release:

  • Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy

  • Minister for Climate Action

  • Scottish Government Special Adviser x 1

  • Scottish Government Analyst x 4

  • Scottish Government Policy Official x 17

  • SEPA Communications Official x 9

  • SEPA Administrative Support x 9

  • SEPA Policy Adviser x 5

  • Zero Waste Scotland Communications Official x 9

  • Zero Waste Scotland Policy Adviser x 3

  • Analysits for inclusion in another publication (NAEI) x 3

Glossary of terms

EWC Code – a six-digit code listed in the European Waste Catalogue. These codes are used to identify and classify waste into different categories. They are structured as three pairs of numbers, each representing chapters, sub-chapters, and individual entries. For example, 12 01 06*..

BMW – the biodegradable fraction of Municipal Waste - waste that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as food and garden waste, and paper and cardboard. It is calculated by multiplying the Municipal waste tonnes by the biodegradability factor listed in Table 1 of the landfilled waste quality report.

Hazardous Waste – waste with hazardous properties which may render it harmful to human health or the environment. Hazardous waste is also called Special Waste in Scotland as defined in the Special Waste Regulation 1996.

Municipal Waste – all wastes with EWC codes listed in Table 1 of the landfilled waste quality report.

Municipal BMW – BMW that originates from municipal sources. All wastes of EWC Chapter 20 and selected wastes of EWC Chapter 19 and Chapter 15 (see the landfilled waste quality report) are considered municipal sources.

Permitted Sites – facilities which landfill waste and are required to be permitted by SEPA under the Pollutions Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Sorting Residues – waste from mechanical sorting processes, including the sorting of residual waste to remove recyclable or combustible materials, sorting at a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF where mixed wastes are deposited and sorted according to material or recyclability, non-composted residues from composting, etc.

WFAS – waste from all sources. This includes waste from commercial, industrial, and construction and demolition sources as well as from household sources.

Waste landfilled – WFAS that is disposed of to landfill.

Waste categories: Definitions of the waste categories used within this report can be found in Annex I (Section 2) and Annex III (table of equivalence) of the EU waste statistics regulations



  1. From 2025, there is a ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill. This is enabled by provisions in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and implemented via Regulation 11 of the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 (as amended)↩︎

  2. This target was set as part of EU landfill legislation and has been adjusted for Scotland in Section 13 of the Making Things Last: a circular economy for Scotland report↩︎