« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Reducing Landfill: A Landfill Allowance Scheme Consultation
ANNEX C: DEFINITION OF BIODEGRADABLE MUNICIPAL WASTE
The definition of municipal waste is fundamental to the EC Landfill Directive, the WET Act and the proposed regulation under the Act.
Article 2 of the EC Landfill Directive defines "municipal waste" as:
"a) waste from households; and
b) other waste that, because of its nature or composition, is similar to waste from households."
and "biodegradable waste" as;
"any waste that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as; food and garden waste; and paper and cardboard".
Section 21 of the WET Act adopts these definitions and defines "biodegradable municipal waste" as;
"waste that is both biodegradable waste and municipal waste".
BMW is the fraction of municipal waste which will degrade within a landfill, giving rise to methane emissions. It is convenient to define BMW by reference to the component materials into which municipal waste is commonly sorted or classified:
The biodegradable fractions are:
Paper and card
Green waste
Kitchen waste
Miscellaneous combustibles
Fines
The non-biodegradable fractions are:
Ferrous
Non-ferrous metals
Glass
Plastic
Miscellaneous non-combustibles
« Previous | Contents | Next »