Policy paper

Glossary of Terms

Published 20 December 2024

Bring sites

Collection points for householders to deposit clean source segregated recyclable materials.

Bulk Density

A measure of the mass of a substance per unit volume, including the void spaces within the material.

Census 2021

The most recent census data acquired by ONS. This data allows us to see all WCA’s, Unitaries, Metropolitans, and London Boroughs that were live in 2021 as well as their population and household numbers. WDAs are not included in this list. The next census isn’t until 2031.

Collection Cost

The expenses incurred for the pickup, transportation, and initial handling of waste and recyclables.

Collection frequency

The regularity with which waste and recyclables are collected from a designated location, whether that is weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or any other specified interval depending on the LA. The LAPCAP model calculates a weighted average collection frequency per week for dry recycling and residual waste collected at the kerbside for each WCA and Unitary authority. A collection frequency of 1 would mean all households served have one collection each week for that service.

Collection scheme

A structured system designed to gather residual waste and dry recycling. LAPCAP calculates the proportion of households with dry recycling collected via comingled, twin-stream or multi-stream collection schemes for each WCA and unitary authority. LAPCAP also considers the materials targeted for collection as part of each scheme.

Comingled Single-stream or comingled recycling

This is the system in which all dry recyclate materials (paper, plastic, metals, etc.) are mixed into a single collection truck. This single stream of dry mixed recyclate is then sorted and separated at a materials recovery facility (MRF). The LAPCAP model calculates the proportion of households with this collection scheme for each WCA and Unitary authority.

Communal Collections

Any collections from Communal Properties i.e. blocks of flats, Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOS).

Communal Property

Any collection point used for multiple dwellings, for example flats.

Defra

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is a department of His Majesty’s Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom.

Deprivation

There are a range of metrics used to score the socio-economics of an area. The Devolved Nations each have their own multiple deprivation measures, however these are all calculated slightly differently from one another, and from the English IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation). This means that the multiple deprivation measures for each of the Nations are not suitable for use in as a consistent UK-wide measure of deprivation.

We have instead applied Social Grade as an alternative to the different multiple deprivation measures systems used in each of the UK nations. Social grade estimates are released by the ONS based on a range socio-economic Census outputs. They are produced for each LA across the UK, which deals with the problem of inconsistency in multiple deprivation measures across the UK nations. The grades are based on the 2011 Census.

To isolate a measure of deprivation using social grade, we have taken the proportion of the population aged 16 to 64, who are in the lowest grades D and E. This approach has been selected as it is consistent with the methodology used by WRAP for benchmarking recycling performance and food waste yields. This will enable analysis to be consistent when considering efficiency and effectiveness.

Disposal Cost

The costs incurred by LAs in managing packaging waste – collection, handling, recycling and disposal. The term ‘disposal cost’ comes from the SI but is not restricted just to disposal operations.

Disposal Overheads

The costs associated with administration of waste disposal services (bulking, haulage, treatment and disposal of household waste), including staff supporting waste disposal (admin, management, and training costs), communication, marketing, external consultancy, finance, ICT, payroll, HR, facilities management and utilities. These are local authority costs and exclude costs for HWRCs and gate fees for disposal facilities. Collection overheads are included in collection costs and not calculated separately.

DRS

The proposed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland is industry led. It introduces a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be claimed back by customers when returned. This will reduce litter, increase recycling rates, create high quality recycled materials for producers and promote a circular economy. 

DRS is planned to launch in October 2027.The Welsh Government made an announcement on 18th November 2024 setting out its plans for a Deposit Return Scheme in Wales, the details of which can be found here.

Effectiveness

A service is effective if it recycles a reasonable proportion of packaging waste (both in each packaging material stream and overall), taking into account factors outside the LAs control such as the demographic and geographical characteristics of the authority area.   

Efficient

As currently defined in the new pEPR regulations due to come into force in January, an authority provides an efficient waste management service if the costs of this service are as low as reasonably possible, considering:

• the waste management service provided by the authority; and
• any other factor specific to that authority, or to the area to which it exercises its waste management functions, which in the opinion of the scheme administrator are likely to affect its disposal costs

GAD

The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) provides actuarial solutions including risk analysis, modelling and advice to support the UK public sector. It is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. 

Gate fees

A gate fee (or tipping fee) is the charge levied upon a given quantity of waste received at a waste processing facility.

In the case of a landfill, it is generally levied to offset the cost of opening, maintaining and eventually closing the site. It may also include any landfill tax which is applicable in the region.

With waste treatment facilities such as incinerators, energy from waste plants, mechanical biological treatment facilities or composting plants the fee offsets the operation, maintenance, labour costs and capital costs of the facility along with any profits and final disposal costs of any unusable residues.

Household packaging waste

Packaging waste, which is household waste, but does not include:

1. Any waste for which a collection charge may be made by a relevant authority under regulations made under section 45(3) of the 1990 Act or Article 20(3) of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.
2. Any waste from a place of worship.
3. Any ground litter or binned packaging waste.
4. Any packaging waste which is discarded together with food waste in a receptacle for food waste where the food waste in that receptacle is collected separately from other household waste by the relevant authority collecting that waste.

LAPCAP in year 1 does not exclude some waste for which a charge can be made which is reported in waste data flow and cannot be excluded using the data fields within this reporting tool.

HWRC

Household waste and recycling centres, a facility where residents can bring various types of household waste and recyclables that are not typically collected through regular kerbside services.

Kerbside collections

Waste collections from individual properties or communal properties.  

Landfill

A waste disposal site for the deposit of waste onto or into land. 

Local Authority Packaging Cost and Performance Model (LAPCAP)

A model developed by Defra on behalf of the four nations which has been used to calculate the net efficient costs incurred by every LA in the UK for the management of household packaging waste. 

Materials facility or materials recovery facility (MF/ MRF)

Places where waste collected for recycling is received, bulked for transport and/or sorted into secondary materials streams for onward sale.  

Multi-stream

This involves separating recyclables into multiple categories before collection, typically sorted into specific bins or compartments on a collection vehicle for paper, card, cartons. plastics, metals, and glass. Plastic and metal may be comingled in the same compartment. The LAPCAP model calculates the proportion of households with this collection scheme for each WCA and Unitary authority.

Net efficient disposal costs (netting off)

A local authority’s waste disposal costs less the income from the sale of household packaging collected for recycling.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (EPR)

A policy approach where producers are given the responsibility to pay LAs for the treatment or disposal of packaging materials.

Primary packaging categories

The term used in the EPR Regulations to denote one of the eight packaging materials:

• aluminium
• fibre-based composite
• glass
• paper and card
• plastic
• wood
• other materials

Draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024

These draft regulations when in force would require businesses that produce or import packaging to register, report their packaging data and meet recycling targets

Proportion of communal collections

The percentage of households reported as being served by a collection scheme predominantly collecting waste from shared collection points.

Proportion of flats

The percentage of housing units in each area that are flats compared to other residential properties based on the 2021 ONS census and national records for Scotland estimates.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Quality assurance can be defined as part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled. More information can be found in published Government resources including the Aqua Book.

Recycling credits

Recycling Credits were introduced in Section 52 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as a means to pass on to a recycler the savings in the disposal and collection cost, which result from recycling household waste. The 2006 waste recycling payment regulations allow flexibility for WDAs and WCAs to agree alternative arrangements.

Report Packaging Data

Organisations that supply packaging use this portal to report their packaging data if required by EPR for packaging.

Request for information (RFI)

A survey form template used for data collection.  

Rurality

UK Composite Rural Urban Classification. A 3-fold metric to describe various small areas (LSOAs/Datazones/SOAs) on a rural/urban scale that is comparable across the UK. The metric is the percentage of a Local Authorities population who live in small areas defined as “Urban”, “Rural” or “More Rural”. This metric is taken from the MySociety methodology and is calculated using population density (generated using the shapefiles for LSOA/DZ/SO and the mid-year population estimates from the various statistics authorities for 2019) and each nations own rurality metric:

• England/Wales - ONS Rural/Urban Classification (RUC)
• Scotland - Scottish Government Urban Rural (SGUR) Classification
• Northern Ireland - NISRA Delineation of settlements (SDL)

Where Urban always means more than 10,000 people within the small area. ‘More Rural’ generally tracks different ideas of ‘village’ sized settlements, aiming to capture information relating to the remoteness of the authority’s population as well as it’s rurality.

Scheme Administrator

The public body that will be set up to run EPR.  

Statutory Joint Waste Partnership

Set up under The Waste Regulation and Disposal (Authorities) Order 1985. The Statutory Joint Waste Disposal has the responsibilities of a Waste Disposal Authority in certain areas and the constituent authorities have the Waste Collection Authority responsibilities.

Tonnes collected per household

Calculated by LAPCAP for use in determination of LA waste collection groupings as the tonnes collected from the kerbside as dry recycling or residual waste divided by the number of households served.

Transfer Station

Facilities where waste is consolidated and bulked for onward transport. Limited material sorting may occur at these sites.

Twin-stream

Twin-stream or two stream is a recycling system where materials are separated into two distinct categories before collection. Typically sorted into specific bins or compartments on a collection vehicle. Paper and card or glass are separately collected from the remainder of the dry mixed recyclate. The LAPCAP model calculates the proportion of households with this collection scheme for each WCA and Unitary authority.

Two tier authorities

In England, waste management is delivered by a mix of unitary authorities, two-tier authorities comprising shire counties acting as waste disposal authorities and district/borough councils acting as waste collection authorities and statutory waste partnerships comprising statutory waste disposal authorities and their constituent councils.

Unitary

Unitary authorities carry out all of the services and functions carried out by the County Council and the district or borough councils combined. Unitary Authorities are both Waste Collection Authorities and Waste Disposal Authorities.  

Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP)

A climate action NGO working around the globe to tackle the causes of the climate crisis and give the planet a sustainable future. They were established in the UK in 2000 and now work in 40+ countries. 

Waste Collection Authority (WCA)

A local government body responsible for the collection of household waste and recyclables from residents as defined in Regulation 30 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended). 

Waste Data Flow

Waste Data Flow is the web-based system for municipal waste data reporting by UK LAs to government. 

Waste Disposal Authority (WDA)

A district or island council exercising their functions as a disposal authority as defined in Regulation 30 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended). 

Zero Waste Scotland

Scotland’s circular economy public body, working with government, business, and communities to rewire the economy from our current “take, make, waste” model to one where we make the most of the materials we have. A zero waste, circular economy is the right choice - for people, planet and prosperity.