Chamber and committees

It is generally illegal to import waste, for disposal, from outside the UK. However, waste operators, including local authorities which operate waste facilities, may accept waste from anywhere within the UK if they choose to do so, provided they remain within the terms of their licences. They will normally recover the treatment or disposal costs from the waste producer by making a charge for accepting the waste.Resources will be provided by the Executive to local authorities from the Strategic Waste Fund (SWF) to assist them in dealing more sustainably with the waste that they collect in their area. Funding from the SWF will only be granted to schemes that follow the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) as outlined in Area Waste Plans. The BPEO is arrived at through consideration of a number of factors including the principles of proximity and self-sufficiency.

Eleven draft Area Waste Plans have now been prepared and are publicly available on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website:(http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/guidance/dawp.htm).The next stage is the integration of the 11 plans into a National Waste Plan (which should be available by the end of 2002) and finalising the Area Plans.

The Executive intends to set overall targets for waste reduction, recycling etc. as part of the National Waste Plan later this year. The levels of the targets will be informed by integration of the 11 draft Area Waste Plans that have been developed as part of the National Waste Strategy. This will ensure that the Best Practicable Environmental Option for dealing with waste in each area has been taken into account before targets are established.

There is no restriction on movement of waste from one area to another within the UK although the National Waste Strategy aims to establish the overall Best Practicable Environmental Option for dealing with waste.

Eleven draft Area Waste Plans have now been prepared and are publicly available on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website:(http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/guidance/dawp.htm).These draft plans are currently being integrated to produce a National Waste Plan for Scotland. This should be available later in 2002. There are no specific deadlines or penalties for production of the Area Waste Plans.

The Executive has allocated £50.4 million, over three years, to the Strategic Waste Fund to assist local authorities in implementing the National Waste Strategy and ensuring that the Best Practicable Environmental Option is used for waste in Scotland. The Executive also intends, as part of the forthcoming Local Government Bill, to place duty on local authorities to prepare Integrated Waste Management Plans incorporating statutory targets set by the Executive. This will ensure standards are achieved.

Guidance to education authorities and schools and the framework of national qualifications provide ample opportunities for teaching Sustainable Development at every level of the school curriculum. Under the School Improvement Framework, which monitors the delivery of the National Priorities in Education, a performance measure has been included for education authorities on the percentage of schools participating in the Eco-Schools Award or similar accredited environmental award. A number of initiatives have also been undertaken in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland to assist education authorities and schools to promote environmental and sustainable development education. These include the learning support pack - Our World, Our Future and Living and Learning in a Time of Change - Starting Points for Teachers and School Management Teams. The new National Qualifications introduce a set of courses from Access to Advanced Higher within the subject area of Managing Environmental Resources. Learning and Teaching Scotland is involved in a partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage, World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Scotland, Eco-Schools, Scotland, Equal Schools Scotland, International Development Education Association of Scotland, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland, Scottish Civic Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Scotland in the sustainable secondary schools project to take forward a four-year initiative on education for sustainable development in secondary schools. Education for Sustainable Development is of course an important element of education for citizenship and officials are currently in discussion with Learning and Teaching Scotland about developing support for schools following the publication of Education for Citizenship in Scotland.

In common with most other countries, the United Kingdom is not participating in these initiatives and at the formation of the Scottish Executive was not advised of these initiatives.

The term flood management covers a broad range of activities, involving private and public interests. For the Executive's part, increased investment in measures to reduce flood risk in flood prone areas and commissioning of flood-related research continues. The Executive is also considering the need for further enhancement of the arrangements for disseminating flood risk and flood warning information following the successful introduction of Floodline last November.

The Executive does not plan a specific response to the 10 point action plan published by Link's steering group on the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Work is already progressing. Many of these action points and these areas are covered by other reports already published by the Executive, for example through Meeting the Needs and Scotland's Renewable Energy Potential-Beyond 2010 and through the establishment of the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum, which had its first meeting in Dundee on 24 July.