verification / datasets / 12-wastedataflow / VARIABLES.md

Dataset 12 — WasteDataFlow: per-council variables

All file/column references below were verified against the files in data/ on 2026-08-13. The primary per-council file is LA_and_Regional_Spreadsheet_2024-25.ods; its sheets carry annual rows per local authority (Financial Year/Year, ONS Code, Local Authority/Authority, Authority type). The raw CSVs are question-level quarterly returns keyed on Authority, Period, QuestionNumber, RowText, ColText, Data.

Join key to sibling datasets: ONS Code (Table_1/Table_2/Table_3) ↔ RO5 ONS Code. Note authority-type mismatches: collection authorities have collection cost but no disposal tonnage responsibility; sum only unitary + disposal authorities for totals (double-counting warning printed in Table_1 itself).

1. Extracted variables

household_waste_total_tonnes

File/column: LA_and_Regional_Spreadsheet_2024-25.ods, sheet Table_1, column Household - total waste (tonnes) (per Financial Year × Local Authority, 2014-15 to 2024-25).
Unit: tonnes/year.
Interpretation: total household waste collected by (or for) the authority — the denominator base for per-head and recycling measures.

household_recycling_tonnes

File/column: Table_1, column Household - waste sent for recycling-composting-reuse (tonnes) (dry and green splits also present).
Unit: tonnes/year.
Interpretation: household waste diverted to recycling/composting/reuse.

residual_waste_per_household_kg

File/column: Table_3 ("Selected Waste Indicators"), column Residual household waste per household (kg/household) (Ex NI191).
Unit: kg per household per year.
Interpretation: the standard residual-waste efficiency indicator (ex-NI191); lower is better. Published pre-computed by Defra — prefer this to hand-rolling it.

household_recycling_rate_pct

File/column: Table_3, column Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting (Ex NI192).
Unit: percent.
Interpretation: headline recycling rate (ex-NI192).

landfill_share_pct

File/column: Table_3, column Percentage of municipal waste sent to landfill (Ex NI193).
Unit: percent.
Interpretation: share of municipal waste landfilled (ex-NI193). Only populated for authorities with disposal responsibility (- for pure collection authorities); absolute landfilled tonnes are in Table_2 column Landfilled if needed.

household_waste_per_person_kg

File/column: Table_3, column Collected household waste per person (kg) (Ex BVPI 84a).
Unit: kg per person per year.
Interpretation: household waste arisings per head (ex-BVPI 84a) — the "waste per head" measure, normalised for population.

la_collected_waste_total_tonnes

File/column: Table_1, column Total local authority collected waste (tonnes); management route splits (Landfilled, Incineration with EfW, Recycled- Composted, Total2) in Table_2.
Unit: tonnes/year.
Interpretation: all LA-collected waste including non-household; denominator for cost-per-tonne.

population / households (raw CSV, quarterly)

File/column: Waste_Collection_data_England_2024-25.csv — filter QuestionNumber == "Q001", RowText == "Population of Authority", value in Data; and Q002, RowText == "Number of Households" (also Dwelling Stock, Index of Deprivation).
Unit: persons / households.
Interpretation: Defra-prefilled denominators per authority per quarter; useful when normalising the raw tonnage questions (e.g. Q010 kerbside tonnages by material) without an external population join.

Verified but secondary: Q100_Waste_Collection_data_England_2024-25.csv (and 2023-24) — processor/output level, columns incl. Authority, Period, FacilityType, Material, TotalTonnes, TonnesFromHHSources. Facility-level destination detail; not needed for the headline per-council variables.

2. Constructed variables

Sibling input, verified: ../01-revenue-outturn/data/RO5_LA_Data_2024-25_data_by_LA.ods, sheet RO5_LA_Data_202425 — per-LA columns Waste collection - Net Current Expenditure (C7 = C3 - C6), Waste disposal - Net Current Expenditure (C7 ...), Recycling - Net Current Expenditure (C7 ...), plus Trade waste, Waste minimisation, Street cleansing (not chargeable to Highways) (all in £ thousand; Total Expenditure and Total Income variants also present). Join on ONS Code. 2024-25 only, so constructions apply to the 2024-25 rows.

waste_spend_total_gbp

Formula: 1000 × (Waste collection C7 + Waste disposal C7 + Recycling C7 + Waste minimisation C7) from RO5.
Unit: £/year.
Interpretation: net current expenditure on waste services (trade waste and street cleansing excluded to keep it comparable to household/municipal tonnage; include them as a variant if analysing gross environmental spend).

cost_per_tonne_gbp

Formula: waste_spend_total_gbp / la_collected_waste_total_tonnes (Table_1, 2024-25 row).
Unit: £/tonne.
Interpretation: the headline like-for-like efficiency measure — what the council spends per tonne of waste it handles. Compare only within authority type: collection authorities carry no disposal spend/tonnage and disposal authorities no collection.

collection_cost_per_household_gbp

Formula: 1000 × Waste collection C7 (RO5) / Number of Households (raw CSV Q002, any 2024-25 quarter — prefilled and stable).
Unit: £/household/year.
Interpretation: what bin collection costs each household served; comparable across collection and unitary authorities.

recycling_cost_per_recycled_tonne_gbp

Formula: 1000 × Recycling C7 (RO5) / household_recycling_tonnes (Table_1, 2024-25).
Unit: £/tonne recycled.
Interpretation: net cost of each tonne diverted to recycling; can be negative where material sales income exceeds cost.

residual_share_pct

Formula: 100 × Household - waste not sent for recycling (tonnes) / Household - total waste (tonnes) (both Table_1).
Unit: percent.
Interpretation: complement of the recycling rate computed from the same file — cross-check for ex-NI192 and available for years/authorities where Table_3 has gaps.

3. Variable file index

One file per variable in variables/ (frontmatter carries kind, unit, grain, role, source, period, missingness):

Extracted:

Constructed: