Waste has been a hot topic in the media recently. With television shows, news reports and events all highlighting the issue of the need to reduce the waste we produce and it seems the message is getting through. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) today released its latest figures on municipal waste for 2006/07 reporting that Scotland has met its domestic target for landfill of biodegradeable municipal waste and the recycling rate continues to increase.
Scottish local authorities have reduced the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill to 1.471 million tonnes, exceeding the expectation of the Scottish Ministers' targets. The recycling rate has continued to increase to 28.4%; up 4% from last year; and municipal waste growth has reduced from around 2% last year to 1%. Although the news is good, there is still more work to do if we are to achieve our first target set within the National Waste Plan of 0% growth by 2010.
SEPA along with the local authorities have worked in partnership to make the figures available under a new reporting system. This is the first full year that the WasteDataFlow system has been used and the changeover allows a more transparent and efficient way of reporting. Although this has been a difficult learning curve for all involved, it will allow for more detailed figures being available at an earlier stage. The municipal waste figures can be viewed at: http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/data/returns.htm
The release of the latest figures coincides with the SEPA's Area Waste Plan (AWP) Annual Reports for 2006/07 and the Scottish Government's Waste Summit.
SEPA's Waste and Resources Unit Manager, John Ferguson 1said: "It's encouraging to see that Scotland is reducing the waste we send to landfill and continues to increase recycling efforts. But we still have a long way to go meet future targets.
"It was good to see another year of progress towards sustainable waste management. This is reflected in the waste data and AWP Annual Reports released today. These reports highlight the wide range of activities being carried out at a local level to tackle issues such as waste prevention, business waste, education and awareness, waste planning and support for community sector recycling initiatives. SEPA continues to support the ongoing achievements of the Waste Strategy Area Group partnerships throughout Scotland.
"Scotland still has challenges ahead if we are to meet the targets set by the EU but progress to date shows we are at least heading in the right direction."
The area waste plan annual reports can be viewed at:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/guidance/annual_reports0607/index.htm
