Scottish councils recycle 41.2% of waste in 2012

Official statistics released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency yesterday (October 28) show that 41.2% of household waste they collected in 2012, an increase on 2011s recycling rate of 40.1%.

Under voluntary recycling targets set out under the Zero Waste Plan, which was launched in 2010, councils are tasked withrecycling, composting or reusing 50% of waste from households by 2013, a figure that is set to rise to 70% by 2025. However this has come under fire from the Scottish Conservative Party which has deemed the target unachievable (see letsrecycle.com story).

In 2012, nine Scottish councils surpassed the 50% recycling rate two more than in 2011. However, 23 councils remain below the target at present. As it is voluntary, councils which do not meet the target will face no consequences.

Clackmannanshire sits at the top of the league table for recycling with 58.9% of waste collected sent for recycling or composting followed by Stirling and Falkirk with 55.7% and 55.2% respectively. At the other end of the table are the Shetland Islands with a recycling rate of 13.5%. In second to last place is Dumfries and Galloway with a 22.2% recycling rate.

Progress

Commenting on the figures, environment secretary Richard Lochhead said: Todays figures show that over half of Scotlands local authorities are above the national recycling average, with nine already hitting the 50% target two more than last year. We can also see that Scottish households produced 100,000 tonnes less waste last year.

Building on and accelerating this progress is a priority for the Scottish Government, as it is for local authorities, and that is why weve invested 20 million to help local authorities roll-out food waste collections to households across the country. Close to half a million households have received a new food waste service already this year, meaning one million households in Scotland now have a service to collect and recycle their food waste. The impact of this investment will be seen in next years figures.

Mr Lochhead added that the Scottish Government will continue to seek the advice of Zero Waste Scotland on what other initiatives can be rolled out to improve the countrys recycling performance.

Food waste

New figures published yesterday by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) show that 1,024,553 households now have a food waste collection service, with 474,937 of these having started this year. ZWS has invested 20 million with councils to help them introduce collections of food waste since 2010. This is one of a number of measures being taken to increase recycling in Scotland, including communications initiatives with councils and work to increase recycling from businesses and in public places.

In addition, 2million has been invested in trials of recycling incentive schemes and other recycling facilities in public places, with almost 3,000 new recycling points installed in the last year.

Commenting on the progress made, Iain Gulland, director of ZWS, said: The progress on recycling last year shows a clear continued commitment to working towards zero waste in Scotland.

We are also working hard to increase recycling from businesses with new waste regulations coming into force in January, working towards the Scottish Governments target for 70% recycling of all waste in Scotland by 2025.