The organisation, which led action promoting recycling in Scotland after being established in 1993, has now been superseded by other organisations promoting similar messages.
– Brian Bingham, RAGS
Although attempts are underway to find another organisation to take on the RAGS mantle, a meeting of the RAGS executive on March 31 agreed that RAGS should “cease trading with immediate effect”.
Announcing that the RAGS office is now closed, and its telephone hotline no longer in operation, a statement posted on the group's website said: “We thank our loyal members for your support over the years.”
Last year saw an attempt at a re-launch of the organisation after a troubled period, with the group establishing a new office in Alloa (see letsrecycle.com story). However, despite changes made to the RAGS business plan, repeated attempts to attract government funding failed.
RAGS chairman Brian Bingham, of Highlander International Recycling, told letsrecycle.com: “The Scottish Executive was not prepared to fund us – they believe there are too many bodies offering the same services. We amended the business plan three times to please the Executive, but three times they turned us down.”
Members
Membership of RAGS came from public, private and community sectors in Scotland, with the group providing a platform for the exchange of information and research to promote sustainable approaches to the management of wastes.
Mr Bingham explained: “We presented a unique package and spent a lot of time putting together a board and a business plan that offered equal representation from the private, community and public sectors – we were given six months to prove ourselves, which we believed we had done. But the Scottish Executive did not see it that way.”
Without the backing of the Scottish Executive, Mr Bingham said the income from members was insufficient to sustain an office and administration staff.
He said the closure of the office at least left the organisation with no debts, and there is now an attempt to find another organisation willing to take on the RAGS name and continue its work.
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Successes
Some of the key successes of RAGS in the last 13 years have been the production of education materials for Scottish primary schools, the development of national press and radio campaigns to promote recycling and the promotion of market development work with UK materials recycling organisations.
RAGS was also instrumental in establishing the Community Recycling Network Scotland, the umbrella group for not-for-profit recycling organisations.
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