Scotland is likely to miss its future landfill diversion and recycling targets if councils stick to the goals currently set in plans they agreed with the Scottish Government last year, according to a report published yesterday (January 14) by public sector scrutiny body Audit Scotland.

In the report, 'Protecting and Improving Scotland's Environment', the organisation claims that, taken together, the targets set in the Single Outcome Agreements (SOA) that Scottish councils agreed with the Scottish Government in June 2009 are "unlikely to be sufficient" for the country to meet its EU landfill diversion targets beyond 2010.

The report called on Scotland's 32 local authorities to agree new targets with the Scottish Government

And, it also claimed that councils' plans were not "adequate" for them to meet the 50% recycling target which the Scottish Government expects the country to meet by 2013 as part of its 'zero waste' ambitions - while also warning that if the current rate of increase was continued it could even miss its 40% goal for 2010.

Commenting on the situation, the chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, John Baillie, said: "Councils play a key role in protecting and improving the environment, in particular, with regard to waste management."

"Since the publication of our 2007 report 'Sustainable waste management', councils have made significant progress but it is concerning that, taken together, councils' individual plans are not yet adequate to meet landfill targets beyond 2010," he added.

The report did, however, note the progress that Scotland had made, both in meeting its EU landfill diversion goals for 2010 already (see letsrecycle.com story), and it also praised the "significant progress" the country had made in increasing its recycling rate over the past 10 years.

Just last week it emerged that England had also met its 201 landfill diversion targets and was moving towards the 2013 goals, with an Environment Agency report showing that the West Midlands had already achieved it's 2013 target (see letsrecycle.com story).

Recommendation

To address the potential shortfall between the goal councils agreed under their SOAs and the waste-related targets expected by Europe and the government, the report recommended councils reach new agreements with government.

The SOAs set out exactly what councils will do locally to work towards a set of 15 broad national goals known as National Outcomes, one of which relates to environment, which have been set by the Scottish Government.

The report said: "The Scottish Government and individual councils should agree plans that together combine to meet European Union and Scottish targets for the amount of waste recycled and sent to landfill."

In terms of meeting future targets and challenges, the report also highlighted councils' need for new waste management facilities to meet national recycling and landfill diversion goals.

Explaining that specific developments might be included in a new national planning framework in 2012, the report said that, while these were "unlikely" to be developed in time to contribute to meeting the 2013 goals, they "may help towards achieving targets in 2020".

And, it also emphasised the importance of behavioural change to improve recycling rates, explaining that: "Although recycling rates are high in areas where kerbside collection is available, there is scope to further increase the volume and type of waste collected and the frequency of recycling."