Carbon footprinting in the UK waste management sector

Figures & data

Table 1.  Comparison of different accounting/reporting mechanisms for UK waste management companies.

Accounting/reporting aspect	GHG Protocol	EpE Protocol	PAS 2050 [53]	ISO 14064 Series	Carbon Trust Standard	DEFRA Guidelines	LCA (EASEWASTE)^†
GHG included	Six Kyoto gases^‡	CO2, CH4 and N2O	As listed in AR4 (2007) Table 2.14	Six Kyoto gases^‡	Six Kyoto gases^‡	Six Kyoto gases^‡	User defined
CO2fossil	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CO2biogenic	Reported separately	Reported separately	Yes	Reported separately	Reported separately	Reported separately	Yes
GWP CO2biogenic	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Cbiogenic sequestration	ND	ND	Yes	ND	ND	ND	Yes
GWP reference	SAR (1995)	SAR (1995)	AR4 (2007)	SAR (1995)	SAR (1995)	SAR (1995)	AR4 (2007)
GWP100 CH4	21	21	25	21	21	21	25
GWP time horizon (years)	100	100	100	100	100	100	User defined (usually 100)
Waste management sector specific	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Time boundaries	1 year	1 year	1 year	1 year	1 year	1 year	User defined (usually 1 year)

This table summarizes key aspects and differences between the different procedures but it should be observed that it is by definition an oversimplification of each procedure.

^†A variety of different life cycle assessment tools are available (e.g., WRATE, ORWARE and WISARD) and most parameters are user defined, meaning that there is no single way of undertaking life cycle assessment. For the purposes of this comparison, the life cycle assessment model EASEWASTE was used, as it is an example of a waste-specific tool.

^‡Kyoto gases: CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.

AR4: IPCC Forth Assessment Report; DEFRA: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; EpE: Entreprises pour l’Environnement; GWP: Global warming potential; LCA: Life cycle assessment; ND: Not defined; SAR: IPCC Second Assessment Report.

Adapted from [14].

Table 2.  Carbon footprinting methodologies used by the seven largest UK waste management companies in their most recently published corporate social responsibility/environmental performance reports.

Company	Methodology used	Report period	Report used
Biffa Group Ltd	Unknown (not reported)	2009/10 fiscal year	[102]
Cory Environmental Ltd	EpE Protocol GasSim [103] used to calculate emissions from landfill	2008 calendar year	[104]
Shanks Group Plc	Unknown (not reported)	2010/11 fiscal year	[105]
Sita UK Ltd	EpE Protocol	2010 calendar year	[106]
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc	EpE Protocol	2010 calendar year	[107]
Viridor Waste Management Ltd	Unknown (not reported)	2009/10 fiscal year	[108]
Waste Recycling Group Ltd	EpE Protocol (modified)	2009 calendar year	[109]

EpE: Entreprises pour l’Environnement.

Table 3.  GHG selection, global warming potential reference and emissions factors selection of waste management companies investigated.

Company	GHGs included	Global warming potential reference	Emissions factors	Ref.
Biffa Group Ltd	Unknown (not reported); assume CO2, CH4, N2O and SO2	Unknown (not reported)	Unknown (not reported)
Cory Environmental Ltd	CO2, CH4 and N2O	IPCC Second Assessment Report	Unknown (not reported)
Shanks Group Plc	Unknown (not reported); assume CO2 and CH4	Unknown (not reported)	Unknown (not reported)
Sita UK Ltd	CO2, CH4 and N2O	IPCC Second Assessment Report	Unknown (not reported)
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc	CO2, CH4 and N2O	IPCC Second Assessment Report	Veolia Environmental	[110]
Viridor Waste Management Ltd	Unknown (not reported)	Unknown (not reported)	Unknown (not reported)
Waste Recycling Group Ltd	CO2, CH4, N2O and CFCs	IPCC Second Assessment Report	DEFRA emissions factors and default emissions factors from the EpE Protocol	[111]

DEFRA: UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; EpE: Entreprises pour l’Environnement.

Table 4.  Avoided emissions sources included in the carbon footprinting calculation of the seven largest UK waste management companies.

Company	Materials separated for re-use/recycling	Renewable energy exports	Waste-derived fuels produced and sold	Renewable energy purchased	Methane emissions avoided by landfill gas combustion
Biffa Group Ltd		✓
Cory Environmental Ltd
Shanks Group Plc	✓	✓	✓
Sita UK Ltd		✓
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Viridor Waste Management Ltd		✓
Waste Recycling Group Ltd	✓	✓

Table 5.  Required information according to the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and, for each of the seven largest UK waste management companies, whether their carbon footprint reports include specified information.

Company	Total (gross) Scope 1 and 2 emissions	Emissions data independently for each Scope	Emissions data for each GHG included (metric tonnes and tonnes of CO2e)	Selected base line year emissions data	Explanation of any historic emission adjustments	Emissions data for CO2biogenic	Carbon footprint calculation methodology used	Details of any exclusions from the calculation
Biffa Group Ltd	✓			✓
Cory Environmental Ltd	✓			✓			✓
Shanks Group Plc	✓	✓		✓				✓
Sita UK Ltd	✓			✓
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc	✓	✓		✓			✓
Viridor Waste Management Ltd
Waste Recycling Group Ltd	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

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