£18 Million To Improve Waste Performance

22nd December 2008

The drive to make Scotland a Zero Waste society today received a further boost with the distribution of almost £18 million to local authorities.

The investment, which will aim to improve recycling rates and cut the amount of waste going to landfill, comes from the Scottish Government's Zero Waste Fund for 2008/09.

The Fund will also be used to trial food waste collection in six local authority areas.

The announcement comes on the same day that the British Retail Consortium have agreed a 50 per cent reduction in carrier bag use across the rest of the UK, three months after the Scottish Retail Consortium agreed the same target for north of the border.

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Richard Lochhead said: "In recent years, Scotland has been making good progress in increasing our recycling rates and reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill.

"However, the Scottish Government is committed to doing more and that is why we set a target of increasing recycling to 70 per cent and cutting municipal waste sent to landfill to five per cent by 2025.

"But we will only achieve these targets if local authorities are properly supported to take action at local level, which is why I am delighted to make a further £17.877 million available for this financial year.

"This considerable investment will not only help meet our challenging targets, it will also put in place an improved infrastructure to deal with recycled material, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of services, which in turn will contribute to Scotland's economic recovery.

"I am also pleased to able to fund six local authorities to trial the collection of food waste which will help inform future policy in this area.

"Local authorities along with businesses and individuals have done much to improve Scotland's performance on waste but there is more to be done if Scotland is to truly become and cleaner, greener place."

Councillor Alison Hay, Regeneration and Sustainable Development Spokesperson at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) added: "I welcome this announcement today as a valuable output of COSLA and the Scottish Government's ongoing work together on moving towards a zero waste vision for Scotland and in particular the target of 50 per cent recycling by 2013. This £17.877 million for councils and food waste trials is a valuable addition to the money already available and will help us build on the continuing success of councils in pushing up recycling rates year on year.

"Local Authorities in Scotland are committed to working towards zero waste as an extension of the waste hierarchy put simply lets reduce the waste we put into the system first and foremost, re-use it wherever possible, recycle as much as we can and recover energy as a final resort. These all form part of the valuable approach to reduce or eliminate waste going to landfill.

"I look forward to continuing to work with Richard Lochhead on this, including the urgent need to develop markets for recycled material here at home in Scotland."

Speaking about the UK agreement on carrier bags, Mr Lochhead went on to say:"I am absolutely delighted to see other UK administrations agreeing the same approach to carrier bags as we've had in Scotland for three months.

"Reducing excess carrier bag use is crucial if we are going to achieve a zero waste society in Scotland, and our work in this area is key part of our action on waste prevention.

"We want to continue to work closely with retailers in this area and I welcome the expansion of this voluntary approach."