BEST INTEGRATED TRANSPORT OPTIONS FOR WASTE IN SCOTLAND

The purpose of the study was to provide a better understanding of the movement of waste and its effects in Scotland. The study provides a strategic review of the current waste movements in Scotland and has developed the basis of a decision making tool which can be used by waste strategists and planners. The relative environmental impacts of different transport modes for waste are reviewed and presented. The legislative and policy background for waste transport is given together with recommendations to develop the appraisal framework for examining waste transport options. A baseline waste data review was carried out to collect and validate data for waste transport in Scotland. Gaps in the data were found to impact on the quality of waste data available at the present time. Cost models were created to examine the modal shift of waste for road, rail, canals and coastal shipping. Road transport represented the most complete of the cost models represented. The models were used to run various scenarios for waste transport in Scotland. The results suggest that only marginal modal shift is feasible with existing waste and transport infrastructure in Scotland. It was found that waste consolidation can improve the economics of transport of waste by modes other than road. The study concludes that the model needs to be developed so that it can be applied to specific studies rather than taking a strategic view of the whole of Scotland.