Scotland has pledged to invest £154 million over the next three years on initiatives such as developing markets for recyclates as it aims to work towards a zero waste society.
In our election manifesto we set out our ambitions to build a greener Scotland and in this Budget, we are delivering.
John Swinney
The SNP administration earmarked a £41m draft expenditure for “zero waste” in 2008/09, £54 m for 2009/10 and £59 m for 2010/11. The total allocation for the rural affairs and environment sector, which includes zero waste, for the next three years was £1.9 billion.
Mr Swinney said: “In our election manifesto we set out our ambitions to build a greener Scotland and in this Budget, we are delivering.”
He added that the investment would be targeted to “improve Scotland's record on waste management and recycling”.
Latest figures from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) place the country's recycling/composting rate at 29.8% for the rolling year, July 2006 to June 2007.
In its budget and spending review document, The Scottish Government said it would “support local authorities as they reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill in line with European Union requirements” as well as support new waste management projects”.
Initiatives
It said that the zero waste budget would help implement the National Waste Plan by providing support for programmes to develop markets for recyclate, as well as initiatives for waste minimisation, waste awareness and support for community recycling groups.
It said this provision “is complementary to the funding transferred to local authorities' budgets for the diversion of waste from landfill”.
Zero waste expenditure will incorporate Scotland's anti-litter and waste initiatives, as well as the Strategic Waste Fund – which currently funds household recycling schemes.
However, in its document, finance chiefs added that budget changes mean recycling services currently funded by the Strategic Waste Fund will in future be “supported through the local government settlement”, which is the grant local authorities receive from the Scottish Government.
It said such changes will allow “more flexibility in allocating resources to frontline services taking into account local circumstances and priorities”.
The total amount of money allocated to Scotland's local authorities over the next three years is around £35 billion
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) president Cllr Pat Watters, speaking after the spending announcement yester, said: “Whilst today's budget in terms of cash is not brilliant COSLA believes that it is the best deal that can be delivered at the moment.”
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