The statistics were published yesterday, March 28, and are for all waste generated in Scotland in 2021. Figures for 2019 and 2020 are not available due to a cyber attack the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) suffered in 2020.
Overall waste volumes fell by 16.3% (1.87 million tonnes) from 2018 to 9.58 million tonnes, of which 5.59 million tonnes were recycled. This was driven by a 1.8 million tonne drop in construction and demolition waste. Household waste volumes rose by around 80,000 tonnes to 2.5 million. This is down from 3.1 million tonnes in 2011.
SEPA explained that the decreases in overall waste generated and recycled are primarily due to changes in construction type wastes. For example, the total waste generated for the soils and mineral waste from construction and demolition waste categories decreased by 32.8% (1.83 million tonnes) and correspondingly the amount of these wastes recycled decreased by 29.8% (1.17 million tonnes) from 2018.
Treatment
The amount of Scottish waste recovered or disposed of by incineration was 1.32 million tonnes, an increase of 168,000 tonnes (14.6%) from 2019, the most recent year available for Scottish waste recovered or disposed.
The amount of Scottish waste disposed to landfill in 2021 was 3.00 million tonnes, an increase of 11,000 tonnes (0.4%) from 2019.
‘Significant disruption’
Andrew Sullivan, principal policy officer at the SEPA, said: “These latest figures see the pandemic’s tail impact Scottish waste performance in 2021. They reflect a period of significant disruption in the Scottish economy and society and SEPA is not drawing longer-term trend comparisons from these figures.
“The data does however represent another reminder of the importance of fostering a circular, net zero economy in Scotland, reducing waste and increasing recycling to help tackle the climate emergency.”
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