Wiltshire Council still on track be carbon neutral by 2030

The local authority has been described as “broadly on track” to deliver on its goal to be carbon neutral as an organisation in scope one and two emissions by 2030.

However, the rate at which countywide emissions are decreasing is currently not enough to deliver its more ambitious aspiration for Wiltshire to become carbon neutral as a whole by 2030, or even by 2050.

This update was presented to cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday, September 17, and provided the ninth progress report since the council formally recognised a climate emergency in 2019.

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Cllr Richard Budden raised concerns over the emissions caused by waste incineration. (Image: Wiltshire Council) Cllr Dominic Muns, cabinet member for waste and environment, said: “We continue to refine and increase our focus on activities that help support Wiltshire residents and businesses to reach net zero.

“It’s really important to recognise that as an authority, considering the large number of buildings, homes, fleet that we operate, we only have direct control over 0.2 per cent of Wiltshire’s emissions.”

He added: “We need to work methodically, we need to base our decisions on the data, and we must take our Wiltshire residents with us.”

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Liberal Democrat councillor, Richard Budden raised concerns over the indirect scope three emissions arising from the quantity of waste sent to be incinerated, suggesting that the total emissions amounted to “well over 100,000 tonnes”.

Cllr Muns told him that this data would be revealed in a future report scheduled for the end of the year, as well as in the waste transformation project.

He said: “We are working with suppliers and third parties to assess what the impact is, and it is not an easy task.”

Cllr Budden argued: “The issue here is that we know that incinerating waste is producing a very high level of carbon emissions, and it seems to me that the strategy and direction of your policy is to push more material into incineration rather than less.”

Cllr Muns refuted this claim and stated that the council is encouraging additional recycling among its residents.  

Since 2019, scope one and two emissions, direct emissions from the council’s own operations, have been reduced by 9,554 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).

The council’s emissions are now down to 2,767 tCO2e, surpassing the target for 2023/24, which was 3,000 tCO2e.

According to the report, a large proportion of this is thanks to a reduction from the council’s fleet and its buildings, which remain the largest source of its emissions.