Compliance rates for waste operators in Scotland has fallen 2% between 2013 and 2014.
Results showed that 88% of operators achieved a rating of excellent, good or broadly compliant. This means that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has not met its target of 91% overall compliance in 2014. SEPA set out the targets in their Annual Operating Plan and they are reported to be one of the most stringent compliance targets in Europe.
SEPA revealed it was disappointed with the latest figures for its annual Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS). CAS measures how well operators in Scotland have met the conditions of their licences, and is used to help SEPA identify problem areas that require greater focus for improvement.
Introduced in 2009, the scheme focuses upon operators with:
Some of the non-compliance is said to result from the addition of water resource licences for the first time under CAS, SEPA commented:
''These licences have been added as part of a phased introduction of new licence regimes under CAS and vary from large scale public water supply or industrial abstractions, to smaller scale irrigation schemes... Had these licences been included within the 2013 CAS results, the overall compliance rate would have been 86%.''
The majority of non-compliance is believed to be associated with data returns:
''Of the non-compliance found across various sectors, one of the primary issues arose from the quality and quantity of data return submitted by operators.''
SEPA executive director, Calum MacDonald added:
''Ensuring compliance with our environmental licences sits firmly at the centre of our work to protect and improve the environment. Although the overall 88% compliance rate is welcome, I am obviously disappointed to see the overall compliance level decline during 2014. We are always seeking ways to improve the performance of those we regulate, and indeed our own performance as regulator, which is why we’ve set ourselves one of the most ambitious compliance targets in Europe. Non-compliance is not an option and several initiatives are currently ongoing which aim to drive up compliance across each sector where ratings have been less than satisfactory.''
