Scottish council breaks through 40% recycling barrier

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency has published quarter four figures for 2005, along with rolling figures for the whole of the calendar year 2005, which show that Clackmannanshire achieved a 40.7% recycling rate on average from January to December 2005.

The authority dramatically rose to the top of the Scottish council recycling league table with a 38% rate in 2004/05 – after recycling just 9% of its waste the year before (see letsrecycle.com story).

Commenting on the achievement, Clackmannanshire's integrated waste manager Graeme Cunningham said: “Recycling targets are going to get tougher and it is important that householders stick with us and keep recycling. When the time is right we will be adding more materials to our recycling list.”

National
Clackmannanshire council's latest efforts helped Scotland as a whole edge closer to the kind of recycling rates being achieved in England.

According to SEPA, Scotland achieved a recycling rate of 22.8% for municipal waste from January to December 2005. In comparison, English local authorities recycled 22.5% of household waste in the financial year 2004/05. The complication is that the Scottish results relate to municipal waste – which includes both household waste and any trade waste collected by councils. English results refer to household waste only.

Under Scotland's national waste plan, councils are collectively aiming to reach a national 25% recycling rate by 2006, with targets rising to 30% by 2008 and then 55% by 2020 – which includes 35% recycling and 20% composting.

Hard work
Scotland's environment minister, Ross Finnie, said: “The improvements in our recycling record are a result of hard work by a number of bodies, including local authorities and community sector groups who have implemented recycling schemes. Of course, more needs to be done.”

Scotland's local authorities do appear to have beaten their English counterparts in one respect in that none of them now have recycling rates in single figures.

Dumfries & Galloway, which has slipped to the bottom of the Scottish council recycling league waiting for its Private Finance Initiative waste contract to kick in, is now recycling 10.1% of its municipal waste.

At the top of the table, Clackmannanshire leads South Ayrshire, which jumped to second place with a 33.8% rate for 2005. Angus remained in the top three with a 33.5% rate, while Stirling, Perth & Kinross, Fife and South Lanarkshire all broke the 30% recycling mark for municipal waste over the course of the year.