How it plans to ensure that there is a fair and sustainable policy in respect of landfill.

Provision of disposal capacity for waste is a matter for the waste industry and local authorities. The role of the Executive is to provide the regulatory and policy framework to secure sustainable management of waste. Our approach to that is set out in the National Waste Plan, which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26101), and which sets out an ambitious programme of action to reduce waste, increase recycling and composting and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Planning decisions on landfill sites are taken by local authorities. The Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 raised the standard of the protection of the environment and human health at landfill sites.
My department is preparing a landfill allowance scheme, which I propose to pilot later this year, that will divide up Scotland’s share of the UK’s targets to reduce the landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste in order to comply with the EU Landfill Directive. This scheme will allow local authorities to either utilise, bank, borrow or trade their allocations of allowances from 2005 to 2020.