And, the Welsh Government has published an annual environment report which shows a continual increase in the amount of waste recycled or composted in Wales since 1998.
The Scottish figures for the period October – December 2011 reveals a decline of 7% from the previous quarter July to September 2011 which had a recycling rate of 43.8%. SEPA explains that the reduction is primarily down to seasonal variation in the quantity of organic waste arising.
Of the 575,615 tonnes of waste arising between October and December 2011, 58.8%, or 338,411 tonnes of it was sent to landfill and 4.5%, or 25,788 tonnes sent for energy recovery.
Many of the councils in Scotland send no waste for energy recovery, instead sending it all to landfill. However the Shetland Islands bucks this trend with 81.9% of its waste being sent for energy recovery. Meanwhile the Shetlands remains at the bottom of the table in terms of recycling with just 14.5% of household waste being recycled or composted. At the other end of the scale two councils broke the 50% barrier for the third quarter. These were Fife with 51.2% and Stirling with 51.1%.
Rolling year
For the rolling year, from January to December 2011, Scotlands recycling rate hit 40.7%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points from the 12 months to September 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
However these figures were calculated under an old system which was based on local authority collected municipal waste. In April 2011 a new system was introduced meaning that waste from non-domestic properties, such as hospitals, universities and prisons, is no longer included.
Wales
Similarly to Scotland, Wales recycling rate is also increasing, according to a report published by the Welsh Government called State of the Environment, 2012. The report looks at 100 indicators used to monitor progress in performance in various environmental areas, including: waste; air quality; water quality; and biodiversity.
“Our actions in areas such as waste are having a clear affect and the on-going development of our proposals for sustainable development and managing the natural environment.”
– John Griffiths, Welsh environment minister
Looking at waste, the report reveals clear improvement in the amount of municipal waste recycled or composted. The figures, which exclude abandoned vehicles, increased from 4.8% in 1998/99 to 45.3% in 2010/11. In terms of household waste the 5.2% was recycled in 1998/99. This rose to 44.7% in 2010/11.
The amount of waste that is recycled or composted in Wales continues to increase as provisional figures released by the Welsh Government last month shows that the principality achieved a 48% recycling rate for 2011/12 (see letsrecycle.com story).
In terms of the amount of waste arising in Wales, the report shows that it is stable. The total amount of municipal waste produced per person has continued to decrease in recent years, falling to 540kg in 2010/11. Prior to 2004/05 this had been increasing. The amount of household waste arising has also followed a similar trend, falling to 467kg in 2010/11.
Progress
Commenting on Wales progress environment minister John Griffiths said: It is important that we have regular updates on the state of Wales environment so we can monitor our progress, review policy where necessary and focus on areas of need. I recognise that we face significant challenges to meet our goals for the environment. We have made solid progress, but this is a challenging agenda.
However our actions in areas such as waste are having a clear affect and the on-going development of our proposals for sustainable development and managing the natural environment.
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