Waste landfilled in Scotland 2024
An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland
Published on 28th October 2025 9:30 AM
This release provides a summary of all waste landfilled in Scotland for calendar year 2024. It excludes Scottish waste landfilled elsewhere. Information on the methodology used to prepare this release and a definition of terms is in the landfilled waste quality report and glossary.
Key points
The total quantity of waste landfilled in Scotland in 2024 was 1.81 million tonnes (Figure 1), a reduction of 172,000 tonnes (8.6%) from 2023. This continues a long term trend with a reduction of 5.24 million tonnes (74.3%) from 2005 and is the lowest annual amount of waste landfilled in Scotland in the time series. The drop in waste landfilled between 2023 and 2024 is likely due to changes in the waste management sector preparing for the 2025 ban of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill1.
The largest reduction in waste landfilled in Scotland in 2024 compared with 2023 was seen in Household and similar wastes (a decrease of 236,000 tonnes or 44.5%). This was offset to some extent by the amount of Soils wastes landfilled between 2023 and 2024, which increased by 172,000 tonnes or 33.5%.
The top three categories of waste landfilled in 2024 were Soils (685,000 tonnes, 37.8% of total), Sorting residues (562,000 tonnes, 31.0% of total) and Household and similar wastes (294,000 tonnes, 16.2% of total) (Table 1).
A total of 29,900 tonnes of hazardous waste was disposed of to landfill in 2024 (Table 2). This accounts for 1.6% of all waste landfilled in 2024. Over half of the hazardous waste landfilled in 2024 was Other mineral wastes (18,300 tonnes, 61.2%), which primarily comprise insulating materials such as asbestos.
The amount of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW - the biodegradable component of Municipal Waste) disposed of to landfill in 2024 in Scotland was 336,000 tonnes (Figure 3). This was a reduction of 218,000 tonnes (39.4%) from 2023 and a reduction of 1.70 million tonnes (83.5%) from 2005.
Data and Trends
Total waste landfilled
The total quantity of waste landfilled in Scotland in 2024 was 1.81 million tonnes (Figure 1), across 39 permitted sites. This was a reduction of 172,000 tonnes (8.6%) from 2023 and is the lowest amount of waste landfilled since this record began in 2005. The long-term trend in the total amount of waste landfilled in Scotland is a decrease of 5.24 million tonnes (74.3%) since 2005. The drop in waste landfilled between 2023 and 2024 is likely due to changes in the waste management sector preparing for the 2025 ban of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill1.
The decrease in waste landfilled between 2023 and 2024 was largely due to Household and similar wastes, which decreased by 236,000 tonnes (44.5%) followed by Mineral wastes from waste treatment and stabilised wastes which decreased by 76,000 tonnes (34.0%). These reductions were somewhat offset by an increase of 172,000 tonnes or 33.5% in Soils between 2023 and 2024.
In 2024, four waste categories comprised over 90% of the waste landfilled in Scotland: Soils (685,000 tonnes, 37.8% of total), Sorting residues (562,000 tonnes, 31.0% of total), Household and similar wastes (294,000 tonnes, 16.2% of total), and Mineral wastes from waste treatment and stabilised wastes (147,000 tonnes, 8.1% of total) (Table 1).
Figure - landfill
Table - landfill
Hazardous waste landfilled
The amount of Hazardous waste landfilled in Scotland in 2024 was 29,900 tonnes, 1.6% of the total waste landfilled and a decrease of 14,000 tonnes (31.8%) compared with 2023 (Figure 2). Over the longer term, the amount of hazardous waste landfilled in Scotland has reduced by 46,000 tonnes (60.7%) from 2005.
Between 2005 and 2012, the largest component of hazardous waste disposed to landfill was Soils which comprised between 62% and 76% of hazardous waste landfilled during the period. From 2013 onward, that percentage has dropped (now ranging from 2% to 50%), and in 2024 comprised 4% (1,200 tonnes) (Figure 2). This pattern corresponds to a change in 2012 when a landfill tax exemption for disposing of waste from contaminated land was removed. Soils have since been replaced by Other mineral wastes as the largest component of hazardous waste (ranging from 30% to 67% of the total since 2013). In 2024, over half the hazardous waste landfilled was Other mineral wastes (18,300 tonnes, 61.2%), which primarily comprise insulating materials such as asbestos.
Figure - Hazardous landfill
Table - Hazardous landfill
BMW landfilled (2020 target)
Municipal waste is defined as waste within certain EWC codes (see Table 1 of the landfill quality report), namely all Chapter 20 codes and certain Chapter 15 and 19 codes. Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) is the fraction of municipal waste this that will degrade giving rise to methane emissions over time when landfilled.
It should be noted that the measure of BMW to landfill differs from that for the 2025 BMW landfill ban1, which applies to the whole amount of waste containing BMW, not just the BMW fraction.
In 2024, 336,000 tonnes of BMW were disposed of to landfill in Scotland (Figure 3). This was a decrease of 218,000 tonnes (39.4%) from 2023 and a reduction of 1.70 million tonnes (83.5%) since 2005.
Scotland had a target to reduce the quantity of BMW disposed of to landfill in Scotland to less than 1.26 million tonnes by 20202. Scotland has met this target since 2012 (Figure 3).
In 2024 the BMW disposed of to landfill comprised mainly two waste categories: Household and similar wastes, predominantly EWC 20 03 01 (mixed municipal waste), which comprised 49.6% of the total and Sorting residues, primarily EWC 19 12 12 (Other non-hazardous wastes from mechanical treatment of waste), which comprised 49.4% of the total (data not shown).
Figure - BMW
Table - BMW
About landfilled waste statistics
An Official Statistics publication for Scotland
This is an Official Statistics publication. These statistics have been produced to the high professional standards defined in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which sets out fourteen principles under the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. More information on the Official Statistics Code of Practice web-site.
Lead Statistician - Peter Ferrett, SEPA
User statement
Data on waste generation and management are collected to support policy development and monitor policy effectiveness, particularly the commitments in Making Things Last - A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland, and Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030. The data contribute to the UK Statistics on waste and are also used extensively by local and central government, the waste industry, researchers and the general public.
Feedback
We welcome feedback on the data from all users including how and why the data are used. This helps us to understand the value of the statistics to external users. Please see our contact details.
Revisions policy
SEPA will provide information about any revisions made to this release and any associated datasets. Revisions could occur for various reasons, including when data from third parties are unavailable or provisional at the time of publishing or if there are subsequent methodological improvements or refinements. The figures are accurate at the time of publication. However, the data may be updated if further revisions are necessary. Normally these revisions will be published concurrent with the next release.
Revisions to the 2023 waste landfilled in Scotland data since the last statistical publication are shown in Table 4. These changes are due to revised waste returns.
Quality report
Data are taken from permitted waste site returns submitted to SEPA. Further information on the methodology can be found in the accompanying landfilled waste quality report.
Enquiries
Enquiries on this publication to: SEPA Communications Department: media@sepa.org.uk
For further contact details please see contact.
Pre-release access
Pre-release access was made available to relevant persons five working days prior to publication in accordance with The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008.
Besides analytical staff involved in the production and quality assurance of this publication, the following post holders in SEPA and the Scottish Government were given pre-release access up to 5 days before release:
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy
Scottish Government Special Adviser x 1
Scottish Government Analyst x 3
Scottish Government Policy Official x 13
Scottish Government Communications Official x 2
Zero Waste Scotland Communications Official x 8
Zero Waste Scotland Policy Official x 4
SEPA Policy Official x 6
SEPA Communications Official x 10
SEPA Analyst x 4
Glossary of terms
EWC Code – a six-digit code listed in the European Waste Catalogue. These codes are used to identify and classify waste into different categories. They are structured as three pairs of numbers, each representing chapters, sub-chapters, and individual entries. For example, 12 01 06*.
BMW – Biodegradable Municipal Waste. The biodegradable fraction of Municipal Waste that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as food and garden waste, and paper and cardboard. It is calculated in this report by multiplying the tonnage for each EWC Code that comprises Municipal waste by the associated biodegradability factor listed in Table 1 of the landfilled waste quality report.
Hazardous Waste – waste with hazardous properties which may render it harmful to human health or the environment. Hazardous waste is also called Special Waste in Scotland as defined in the Special Waste Regulation 1996.
Municipal Waste – all wastes of EWC Chapter 20 and selected wastes of EWC Chapter 19 and Chapter 15 (see Table 1 of the landfilled waste quality report) are considered municipal sources.
Permitted Sites – waste management facilities which landfill waste and are permitted by SEPA under the Pollutions Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012.
Sorting Residues – waste from mechanical sorting processes, including the sorting of residual waste to remove recyclable or combustible materials, the sorting of mixed wastes according to material or recyclability at a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), and non-composted residues from composting.
Waste landfilled – waste from all sources (i.e. from commercial, industrial, construction and demolition and household sources) that is disposed of to landfill.
Waste categories - Definitions of the waste categories used within this report can be found in Annex I (Section 2) and Annex III (table of equivalence) of the EU waste statistics regulations
The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 set out a number of provisions which help Scotland move toward the objectives and targets set out in the Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan and help transition toward a circular economy. These provisions include a ban on biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill from the 31 December 2025 which is implemented by amending the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003. For further information refer to the BMW landfill ban on SEPA’s web site.↩︎
This target was set as part of EU landfill legislation and has been adjusted for Scotland in Section 13 of the Making Things Last: a circular economy for Scotland report↩︎