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Changes in legislation of municipal solid waste management in the UK force Local Authorities to have to evaluate their collection schemes on a regular basis. Coupled with having to maintain the collection fleet and assess the best way to collect as much recyclate as possible involves various rounds of decision making. This paper outlines the decision method followed and a decision support tool using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multicriteria decision analysis method, and tested in relation to a Local Authority in West Wales. The tool takes into consideration implementation, promotional and running costs, legislative drivers and end market issues to form the favoured decision. Kerbside Sort is currently the preferred method of collection by Welsh Government, whereas the favoured method by the majority of Local Authorities is a commingled collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses how a dirty Materials Recovery Facility can assist a Welsh local authority to meet the Landfill Directive targets. The analysis found that a dirty MRF could assist a local authority to meet the 2010 target, but after this it gets extremely difficult to meet the landfill allowance criteria without some form of other treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a waste composition study carried out in a rural local authority in Wales, UK. Principal areas under investigation were 1) a study of household set out rates, 2) analyses of recyclate, compostable and residual waste, 3) impact of seasonality and 4) urban versus rural effects. The study found that the average household waste arisings within the study area was 14.9 kg/hh/wk. The results also highlight that these arisings varied from 13.4 kg/hh/wk in the winter to 16.5 kg/hh/wk in the summer. The average biodegradable fraction in the household waste stream was 72%, which was significantly greater than the equivalent Welsh biodegradable municipal waste average of 61%. Based on the findings of the waste composition analysis, recommendations on improvements to the study area's recycling performance are to expand the kerbside recycling scheme, with emphasis placed on the segregation of biodegradable elements of the household waste stream, namely garden waste, kitchen waste and paper and card fractions. These fractions are to be concentrated upon to minimise the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfill, thus allowing the study area to meet their Landfill Allowance Scheme targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]