Every reason to believe Scotland can recycle 70%

That was the message from Scottish environment secretary Richard Lochhead yesterday (October 5) as he spoke via a video address at the Scottish Waste and Resources conference in Glasgow, which was for the first time combined with Zero Waste Scotlands annual event.

The Scottish Governments Zero Waste Plan, published in June 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story) included a goal to recycle 70% of waste in Scotland by 2025, with a maximum of 5% of material going to landfill. It also talks of the need to encourage and support investment in innovative resource management technologies.

In support of this, Mr Lochhead usedhis speechto announce a 500,000 Recycling Innovation Fund. The money, which will be distributed by Zero Waste Scotland, will go towards the development of packaging or products which help to reduce waste alongside new recycling technologies.

Mr Lochhead said: Much more needs to happen to reach the 70% goal by 2025. There is every reason to believe that Scotland can rise to this challenge and lead the way. Our vision goes beyond diverting waste from landfill.

Today I am announcing the Zero Waste Innovation Fund which will make available more than half a million pounds towards innovative products and packaging and new technology.

Forecasts suggest that future innovation and technology developments could be worth an additional 8.4 billion to Scotlands low carbon industries by 2015 and create up to 100,000 jobs. Innovation is vital if we are to become a zero waste society. New technologies can help us reduce our reliance on natural resources and enable us create value from the existing materials we use.

Mr Lochhead pointed to the fact that the Scottish Government was bringing forward new Zero Waste Regulations by the end of this year which will set out exactly how many ofits ambitions in the Zero Waste Plan such as a ban on biodegradable waste to landfill will be put into law. Further details on this are due to be announced next Friday (October 14).

Prevention

And, he said that the Scottish Government would be consulting shortly on a Waste Prevention Plan, as required of member states under the revised European Waste Framework Directive.

While he conceded that money was an issue in the current economic climate, he said that funding for the Zero Waste Programme had been protected to a large extent and that he was encouraged by recent successes in Scotland such as the introduction of food waste collections in Edinburgh. He also expressed an interest in working with retailers on initiatives such as reverse vending. Zero Waste Scotland has been charged with running a trial in this area.

Mr Lochheads video address was accompanied by a presentation by Dr Stephen Pathirana, the official who is currently leading the Scottish Governments Zero Waste Programme.

Dr Pathirana said that the Scottish Government had embarked on an ambitious journey when it came to waste and that it “did not know” what the final destination would be and urged all stakeholders involved to work in partnership.

EfW

On the topic of energy-from-waste, which has proved controversial in Scotland, Mr Pathirana said that this was not an issue he would be ducking.

He said: There has been a lot of positive debate in the past on its role. The cabinet secretary has been crystal clear that it has to be a part of the picture going forward. We do need EfW.

However, Dr Pathirana said that countries such as Denmark which had developed a lot of energy-from-waste plants had locked themselves into this one particular solution.

Thats what we need to make sure does not happen here, he said. We need to be smart. We have got to think about what happens in the longer term levels of waste will probably decline. In that context my personal concern is around local authorities signing up levels of residual waste to EfW contracts I would be concerned about 30% or more.

When asked how government and industry could work more closely to dispel some of the myths about the health risks of energy from waste, Dr Pathirana said that the problem was that many people did not understand the policy framework for waste in Scotland.

Under the draft Zero Waste regulations, unsorted waste will not be able to be sent to EfW facilites.

He said: You cant put black bags waste directly into incinerators in Scotland so effectively mass burn incineration cant happen. Part of this is understanding the policy framework in place. Historically we have used the planning system to stop this. But the Zero Waste Regulations focus on the permitting system which regulates what goes in and out of plants. SEPAs powers in this area will be different.