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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

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