The Waste and Emissions Trading Act (WET) is the UK legislation for the UK delivery of its commitments to the Kyoto Protocol and the Landfill Directive. Economic Instruments, rather than command and control, are used to deliver the best economic solutions. It places tighter restrictions on the amount of biodegradable Municipal Waste (paper, food and garden) that can go to landfill and gives a statutory basis for penalties in the world’s first economy-wide Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Act:

• Legislative framework for the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme
• Joint Strategy for the Management of Municipal Waste
• Power for Waste Disposal Authorities to direct a collection authority to deliver their waste in a separated form

The Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme (LATS) allows Waste Disposal Authorities to:

• trade their allowances with other disposal authorities
• find most cost effective way of diverting waste from landfill reflecting local circumstances
• save unused allowances (bank) or bring forward part of future allocation (borrow)

The diversion of biodegradable Municipal Waste from landfill is a key objective of the Landfill Directive.

Read more about the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme and Landfill Directive