Official statistics work programme
Published: 07 September 2026
Introduction
This Official Statistics Work Programme sets out SEPA’s planned statistical outputs, developments and improvements for the period April 2026 to March 2027.
This programme oversees the planning, scheduling, management of changes, user engagement, and dissemination of SEPA's official statistics. During its lifespan, it will deliver six key statistical publications: five focused on waste and resource management, and one on pollutant releases from SEPA-regulated facilities.
These statistics provide vital evidence for measuring progress against national targets, monitoring the effectiveness of policies, supporting environmental and circular economy strategies, informing decision-making, and enhancing public understanding of Scotland's environmental performance.
The programme serves a diverse user community, including the Scottish Government, Zero Waste Scotland, local authorities, academic and research institutions, industry stakeholders, and members of the public, helping to ensure that trusted, high-quality data is accessible to those who need it most.
This is the first official statistics work programme produced by SEPA and is in line with the requirement to publish an annual statistical work programme introduced in the Code of Practice for Statistics 3.0 (Autumn 2025). The approach to this work programme was undertaken in collaboration with the Scottish Government (RESAS division) and NatureScot.
The programme is developed in line with the UK Code of Practice for Statistics (Version 3.0) and reflects the three pillars of:
Trustworthiness
Quality
Value
It provides transparency on priorities, planned changes, and how statistics will continue to meet user needs.
Statistical Outputs
SEPA will continue to produce Official Statistics covering:
Household waste
Waste incinerated and landfilled
Waste from all sources
Scottish Pollution Inventory (SPRI)
Outputs will be published as statistical reports supported by datasets.
Existing publications can be accessed at:
Publication schedule
Publication calendar
Publication | Reporting year | Pre-release date | Publication date |
|---|---|---|---|
Household waste statistics | 2025 | 20th October 2026 | 27th October 2026 |
Incineration statistics | 2025 | 20th October 2026 | 27th October 2026 |
Landfill statistics | 2025 | 20th October 2026 | 27th October 2026 |
Scottish Pollution Release Inventory (SPRI) statistics | 2025 | 10th November 2026 | 17th November 2026 |
Waste from all sources statistics | 2024 | TBC | March 2027 |
Waste from all sources statistics | 2025 | TBC | March 2027 |
Notes on publication timing
The 2024 Waste from All Sources Statistics publication has been delayed due to resourcing constraints. To ensure efficient use of resources and improve coherence for users, the 2024 and 2025 releases will be published together in March 2027. It is anticipated that the publication schedule will return to the normal annual March publication date thereafter.
Planned changes to statistics
During 2026–2027, SEPA will implement the following changes:
Removal of carbon emissions from household waste statistics
Rationale
Emissions factors are outdated
Continued use risks misleading users
Impact
Emissions series will be removed or clearly caveated
Other core measures remain unchanged
Amended methodology for waste exports (waste from all sources)
Update the Waste Exports table to use the Trans-frontier Shipment of Waste (TFS) in lieu of 19 12 12 wastes recorded as sent outwith Scotland in the site return.
Rationale
The Waste Exports table comprises waste sent outwith Scotland from permitted sites only. However, for waste managed by incineration and sent outwith Scotland, in place of 19 12 12 waste taken from site returns, the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) exported for incineration taken from the TFS dataset. This difference could be seen as an inconsistency between the export data and incinerated outwith Scotland data.
Impact
Amendment of the waste exports table will provide consistency between these two data points.
Communication
Changes will be communicated through:
Statistical publications
Methodology documents
Publication notices
Media releases
User engagement
Engagement activities
In 2026-2027 we intend to engage users via a joint user event planned by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) unit and other producers of environmental statistics.
User surveys and feedback – we will seek user feedback via a survey form on the SEPA website to invite user feedback about our statistics.
We will continue to participate in Scotland’s Waste Data Strategy Delivery Board (WDSDB) - the delivery board is to oversee the development, implementation, delivery and monitoring of Scotland’s Waste Data Strategy (WDB). We will seek input from the WDSDB on methodology, production and dissemination of official waste statistics. The WDSDB organise regular Waste data practitioners’ workshops, which are attended by a wide range of waste statistics stakeholders. We will provide opportunities for stakeholders to provide feedback on the relevance, production and dissemination of official statistics at these workshops.
We will inform local authorities of official statistics that impact their authority as part of the WasteDataFlow communications, including our annual WasteDataFlow user group.
Responding to feedback
SEPA will:
Publish summaries of feedback from user events and from survey feedback.
Prioritise developments based on need
Clearly explain decisions
Resources
Staffing
Outputs are delivered by:
Statisticians (waste x 1, SPRI x 1) within SEPA’s Environmental Quality team
Senior Scientists (1), Scientists (waste x 3, SPRI x 2, admin x 1) / Assistant Scientists (waste x 2, SPRI x 1) within the team assist data ingestion, validation and verification throughout the year and assist with report production.
Subject specialists across SEPA support the verification of the data and review of draft statistics.
The Scottish Government RESAS team assist by review of draft statistics.
Systems
Data is collected from a variety of sources and stored securely in SEPA systems.
Increasingly, we have moved to automation of processing of data submissions, providing for more consistent checks and improved data quality.
Risk management
Key risks:
Resource constraints
Data quality issues
Resilience for key tasks in statistical production
Mitigation:
Continue to improve automation of data ingestion and statistical production to make statistical production more efficient.
To provide resilience and minimise data quality risks, improve internal documentation and provide internal training for an additional Statistician to review and lead on production of waste and SPRI statistics.
Production and dissemination
Production improvements
Production uses an RMarkdown workflow to integrate charts, tables and statistical commentary. This provides an efficient reproducible workflow which can be modified to a range of outputs.
For the current year, the outputs will be amended to produce Microsoft Word documents and Excel tables (see Dissemination Approach below)
We will improve internal documentation and training of the workflow to increase resilience within the team.
Dissemination approach
The statistics were first published as interactive html documents on the Scottish Government’s data.gov.scot site in 2024. These allow charts and tables to be downloaded directly from the statistical pages. Following removal of data.gov.scot as a service for producers of official statistics, the dissemination method is currently under review. For the duration of this plan publication will be in Microsoft Word format, accompanied by Microsoft Excel files for the statistical tables. The publication method for the WFAS may also be published in Word / Excel subject to the outcome of the review.
October / November 2026 Publications
Accessible Word documents
Summary tables in Excel documents
Transparency
We will clearly communicate:
Format changes
Limitations
Future plans
Compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
Trustworthiness
We will continue to uphold the principles of trustworthiness by ensuring that our statistical outputs are produced through transparent, impartial and well-governed processes. Information on methodology, data sources, quality assurance procedures and revisions will be published alongside outputs where appropriate, enabling users to understand how statistics have been produced and to have confidence in their integrity.
Clear and timely communication with users will remain a priority. We will strengthen user engagement through regular consultation, feedback mechanisms and stakeholder discussions to ensure that our statistics meet user needs. Feedback received will be reviewed and used to inform future developments, helping to maintain confidence in our statistical products and services.
Quality
We will continue to improve the quality of our statistics through the ongoing review and enhancement of methods, data sources and analytical approaches. This will include adopting new methodologies where these provide more robust, accurate or efficient measures, and ensuring that quality assurance processes remain proportionate and effective.
As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we will review existing outputs and measures to identify those that are no longer relevant, sufficiently robust or aligned with current user requirements. Where appropriate, outdated measures will be revised, replaced or removed, helping to ensure that published statistics remain accurate, meaningful and fit for purpose.
Value
We will focus on delivering user-centred statistical outputs that provide clear insight and support informed decision-making. Statistical publications will be designed to be accessible, relevant and understandable to a wide range of audiences, with consideration given to presentation, clarity and the effective communication of key messages.
Strong engagement with users and stakeholders will underpin our approach to maximising value. Through consultation and collaboration, we will seek to understand evolving information needs and priorities, ensuring that our statistical work programme remains responsive and delivers outputs that provide genuine public value. We will also promote the appropriate use and interpretation of statistics, supporting users to draw evidence-based conclusions from the information we provide.
Monitoring and review
The programme will be reviewed during 2026–2027 and updated as needed.
Contact and feedback
SEPA welcomes feedback from users.
For enquiries:
Email: waste.data@sepa.org.uk
Web: Contact us
Annex A: Glossary
Official statistics - Statistics produced in line with the Code of Practice
Pre-release access - Controlled early access to prior to publication
Waste from all sources (WFAS) - Total waste generated across all sectors
Scottish Pollution Release Inventory (SPRI) - A dataset reporting annual emissions from industrial sites in Scotland, including pollutants released to air, land, and water.
Annex B: Revision policy
SEPA is committed to transparency through a published revision policy:
Significant errors will be corrected promptly
Minor revisions will be corrected as part of the normal publication cycle
Revisions will be clearly flagged
Users will be informed of significant changes