The final results of the referendum on Scottish independence were announced this morning after polling on Thursday, with the ‘No’ campaign against independence received 2,001,926 votes, defeating the ‘Yes’ campaign’s 1,617,989 votes.
However, despite voters’ rejection of independence, it is likely that the Scottish Government will gain a number of additional powers from Westminster, with leaders to discuss details of further devolution for Scotland over the coming weeks.
ZWS declined to directly comment on the possible implications of the referendum result, but appeared to suggest the situation was ‘business as usual’.
A spokesperson for ZWS said: “Our work supports the Scottish Government’s long-term plans to reduce waste, prevent climate change and conserve valuable resources, all of which have been made with devolved powers and with broad cross-party support. Right now, we have an important agenda and lots to be getting on with. In particular, we are excited about the potential for the circular economy framework to help shape economic growth in Scotland in a genuinely sustainable way.”
Director of ZWS, Iain Gulland, appeared at the RWM exhibition in Birmingham this week (see letsrecycle.com story). Leaving the NEC yesterday (September 18) he tweeted: “Hope the rest of RWM with CIWM goes well. I’m off home to vote!”
Also commenting on the result of the referendum today, Grant Keenan – managing director of Keenan Recycling and member of CIWM’s Scottish Centre Council – also said: “I believe it’s business as usual, some people in the industry will be deeply disappointed, some will breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t see that there is a general consensus either way on the result and I see no change.”
LARAC
The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) also suggested that little would change in terms of waste and recycling as a result of the ‘No’ vote, and that the Committee would have continued supporting local authorities in Scotland regardless of the outcome.
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Lee Marshall, LARAC chief executive, said: “From a LARAC viewpoint we would be looking to continue to represent local authorities in Scotland regardless of the outcome of the vote. With waste already being a devolved matter there are already differences in the policies and the support mechanisms in Scotland for local authorities and we imagine they will continue to strive for the 70% target that has been set.”
Resource Association
Chief executive of the Resource Association, Ray Georgeson, told letsrecycle.com that he wasn’t convinced that the referendum would have hugely impacted on the sector whichever way the result had gone.
He said: “I don’t think it [the referendum result] would have a major effect. Scotland already has strong powers on waste policy and they are using them effectively.”
Among the measures implemented by the Scottish Government are the Waste (Scotland) Regulations, which came into effect on January 1 2014, including strict requirements on how businesses present recyclable waste for collection (see letsrecycle.com story).
Councils
The Local Government Association (LGA), meanwhile, said the “devolution genie” was now “out of the bottle” and called for a roll out of greater devolution across England and Wales.
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The Association did not specify what devolved powers it was seeking for councils, but it has previously sought to protect local authority control over waste and recycling collections in light of comments previously made by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Pickles has suggested a future Conservative government could seek to modify legislation, namely the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to give central government the power to enforce weekly waste collections in England.
Councillor David Sparks, chair of the Local Government Association, said: “The clock is ticking and we need to act now. That is why we are calling for an urgent meeting of a Constitutional Convention – to speed up the process of English devolution.”
He added: “The Scottish referendum campaign has shown that public trust in the old ways of central control has been shattered beyond repair.
“One rule for Scotland and another for England is totally unacceptable. Local areas need to be set free from the grip of Whitehall and allowed to raise and spend money in a way which will best serve the people who live there, from equipping them with the skills for work to being able to build the homes people need. Crucially, this must be underpinned by a fair and equitable distribution of public money for all of the UK.”
Ahead of the vote this week, Scotland director at consultancy Ricardo-AEA, Jamie Pitcairn, compared Scotland’s and England’s waste policies to “chalk and cheese”, while a number of business leaders in the industry expressed to letsrecycle.com concerns that Scottish independence could increase the red tape involved in moving RDF and other waste materials across the border between England and Scotland (see letsrecycle.com).
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) declined to comment on the outcome of the referendum.
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