As campaigning on both sides of the debate enters its final day, opinion remains divided over the wider impact a vote in favour of breaking away from the United Kingdom could have on waste and recycling firms.
Scotland’s voters will head to polling stations tomorrow (September 18) in a vote that will determine the future of the Union.
Commenting on the likely impact of a ‘Yes’ vote on the waste and recycling sectors, Jamie Pitcairn, Scotland director at consultancy Ricardo AEA said that the Scottish Government already wields significant power over its own waste policy, with more powers set to come.
He described the existing policy landscape in England and Scotland as “chalk and cheese”, with the Scottish Executive taking a different direction to Westminster over waste legislation.
“The majority of powers are already devolved anyway – Scotland is already looking at landfill tax and setting its own rate of landfill tax from 2015,” he said. “I don’t see anything overly radical happening as the powers have been devolved for a while now. The government has been ambitious in terms of what it wants to achieve – there is lots of work going on around infrastructure and producer responsibility with the possibility of a Scottish PRN, reverse vending – there is a long list.”
Zero Waste
Among the measures implemented by the Scottish Government are the Waste (Scotland) Regulations, which came into effect on January 1 2014, including strict requirements on how businesses present recyclable waste for collection (see letsrecycle.com story). The approach has been praised by many within the UK waste sector, especially in light of a perceived lack of direction on waste and recycling policy in England from Defra.
Grant Keenan, owner of Aberdeenshire recycling firm Keenan Recycling said that a break away from the UK would be unlikely to harm recycling rates in Scotland due to the existing policies in place.
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He said: “I don’t believe we have been furnished with any information that would give any kind of indication there would be any change if there was a Yes vote. From previous experience of the Scottish Government I would anticipate that with more control recycling rates would improve but that is just a personal view and is a bit of a guess.”
Privately however, many business leaders have expressed strong concerns over the practicality of moving recyclable materials and refuse derived fuel (RDF) between Scotland and England, should voters favour independence, and an increase in ‘red tape’ that this may create.
At present, any recyclable or waste moving south of the border is not subject to any regulatory control under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste regulations, a situation that would change if Scotland were to break away from the UK.
Cross-border movements
Mr Pitcairn commented that he could foresee some impact on the cross border movements of waste in light of a vote in favour of independence: “Transfrontier shipment will probably be different – for example for exporting RDF new licenses will have to be set up between England and Scotland. I imagine there won’t be such a free flow of lorries between England and Scotland as we will now be going into a different country.”
He added that “There may also be additional requirements in terms of tracking waste and Duty of Care.” He said that this could, for example, impact on businesses such as supermarkets backhauling waste across the border to England.
One expert also commented that this may be particularly problematic if an independent Scotland was not permitted to join the EU due to objections from existing Member States, including Spain, which is itself grappling with calls for independence from politicians in the Catalan region.
Another waste industry source added that businesses always prefer ‘businesses as usual’ but firms in the sector would adapt to any changes brought about by tomorrow’s poll.
Ian McAulay, chief executive of waste management firm Viridor, said: “Scotland’s constitutional future is a matter for Scotland and its people.”
Independence for Scotland remains a critical issue for many in the waste sector, with a number of organisations declining to comment when contacted by letsrecycle.com. All eyes will be firmly on Scotland for the results of tomorrow’s poll and its wider implications for the UK.
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