Waste

Topics included under this theme

Key trends

Just below 2.93 million tonnes of municipal waste was collected in the South West during 2007 / 2008, 10% of the English total of 28.5 million tonnes.
Total municipal waste in the region was 1% (36,000 tonnes) lower than the 2.97 million tonnes in 2006 / 2007 and 2% lower than the peak of almost 3 million tonnes in 2004 / 2005. However, it remains over 9% higher than in 2000 / 2001.
The South West had the 3rd highest proportion of waste sent to landfill in 2007 /2008 with 59%. However, this proportion has been in decline since 2000 / 2001 when 82% was sent to landfill and is 3 percentage points lower than in 2006 / 2007.
The South West had the 3rd highest recycling and composting rate in England with 40.3% in 2007 / 2008 - a significant increase on the 14.9% in 2000 / 2001 and 3 percentage points higher than in 2006 / 2007.
There were 45,419 flytipping incidents recorded in the South West during 2007/2008 - 4% of the 1,282,820 total flytipping incidents in England during 2007/2008 and the lowest recorded by a region.
Between 2006 / 2007 and 2007 / 2008 the number of flytipping incidents in the region increased by 23%.
Stretches of rivers in the South West recording high Phosphate concentrations have reduced from 54% in 1990 to 43% in 2007.
Stretches of rivers in the region recording high nitrate concentrations have increased from 22% in 1990 to 26% in 2007.

Background to theme

There is a Regional Waste Strategy for the South West. This strategy is helping to address waste issues across the region and sets out how to make the South West a minimum waste region by 2030. (South West Regional Assembly, 2004).

At present the majority of our waste is sent to landfill, and we are currently running out of space. Considerable effort is underway to reduce the amount of waste that we create in the first place as well as find alternatives was of managing the rest, such as recycling.

Fly tipping of waste is a major issue in the UK. Fly Capture is a national web-based database of fly tipping incidents that went live in April 2004. It contains information on fly tipping incidents and action taken as well as a vehicle registration hot-list that is encouraging joint working between local authorities.

Pollution incidents such as oil spills or the accidental release of raw sewage can damage the environment. Pollution can be fatal for fish and invertebrate life, can pose a threat to human health and degrades habitats. The Environment Agency responds and takes enforcement action against pollution incidents.

Diffuse pollution can arise from many sources, which are generally dispersed and diverse in nature. Derived from current and past land use in both agriculture and urban environments, sources may individually be small but their collective impact can be damaging.