The Scottish Government has distributed £18 million to local authorities as part of its ongoing drive to make Scotland a ‘Zero Waste' society.

Announced yesterday (December 18), the funding is the first instalment from a new Zero Waste Fund, which will provide £154 million to councils over the next three years. The Zero Waste Fund has effectively replaced the Strategic Waste Fund, with money from the latter being incorporated in the general local government settlement.

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

 
Richard Lochhead, cabinet secretary for environment

The majority of the latest £17.877 million allocation will go towards helping local councils to strengthen recycling and waste management infrastructure, as well as any other area of local importance with regards to waste.

A smaller proportion will help fund food waste collection trials in six local authority areas - Aberdeenshire, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and Perth and Kinross.

The money is expected to help Scotland reach its targets to increase recycling to 70% and cut municipal waste sent to landfill to five per cent by 2025.

Richard Lochhead, cabinet secretary for the environment, said: "We will only achieve these targets if local authorities are properly supported to take action at a 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 be able to fund six local authorities to trial the collection of food waste which will help inform future policy in this area", he added.

The funding was welcomed by council leaders in Scotland, represented by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

Councillor Alison Hay, regeneration and sustainable development spokesperson at COSLA, said: "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," she added.

The £17.877 million is the first instalment of £41.1 million which will distributed by the Zero Waste Fund over the 2008-09 financial year. A further £54.4 million is due to be released in 2009-10 and £58.7 million in 2010-11.