Scottish Government to unite waste delivery bodies

Bringing together the delivery of Zero Waste programmes in Scotland will enable us to deliver better and more efficient services to consumers, local authorities and businesses

 
Iain Gulland, leader of Zero Waste Scotland

Plans for the programme, which is set to be known as 'Zero Waste Scotland', were unveiled on Friday (January 22) and will be led by WRAP Scotland.

It will combine the work and research of the Waste and Resources Action Programme and six other Government-funded waste and recycling organisations and comes after a move towards a similar single resource efficiency body was announced in England in May 2009.

Over the next 12 months, WRAP Scotland will combine with Envirowise Scotland, NISP, Waste Awareness Scotland and Remade Scotland to become a Zero Waste Scotland body.

Meanwhile, Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS) and Keep Scotland Beautiful will also work closely with Zero Waste Scotland but, as registered charities, will keep their current names.

When carrying out work on behalf of the programme the organisations will report to Iain Gulland, the director of WRAP Scotland and new leader of Zero Waste Scotland.

By establishing the new organisation, the Scottish Government is aiming to create a more “Scottish-focused” programme of delivery to enable it to meet the demands of its ambitious Zero Waste Plan, which is set to include ambitious new recycling targets and will be published in final form towards the end of spring or early summer.

Scottish environment secretary, Richard Lochhead, said: “We are establishing Zero Waste Scotland to simplify the delivery of the extremely important environmental message: the need to tackle our waste culture to help conserve our resources for future generations and cuts costs for households and businesses.”

WRAP

The establishment of Zero Waste Scotland is not intended to alter the work being done by the delivery bodies it incorporates but to allow them to work more closely on topics and present a more cohesive message to consumers, councils and businesses.

Mr Gulland said: “Bringing together the delivery of Zero Waste programmes in Scotland will enable us to deliver better and more efficient services to consumers, local authorities and businesses.”

“It will give greater clarity to those seeking advice and support on Zero Waste, and it will mean services will be better integrated and able to benefit from economies of scale.”

And, while also incorporating WRAP Scotland, Zero Waste Scotland will have access to the expertise and resources of the UK network of WRAP.

Mr Gulland added that the four other bodies set to become Zero Waste Scotland would be working together to ensure the transition to a single resource efficiency programme was “as smooth as possible”.

Delivery

The move echoes a similar alteration to be made in England which was announced in May 2009 following a review of the various resource efficiency delivery bodies operating in the country (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, Zero Waste Scotland insisted that the move in Scotland was in response to an independent stakeholder consultation which requested a single, Scotland-focused programme for waste and recycling.

A spokesman said: “Obviously waste policy is a devolved issue so the Scottish Government has carried out a review of its numerous delivery bodies which has led to the decision.

“It is not related to the delivery landscape review in England made by Defra, which WRAP is leading. There is obviously a similar process in England but Scotland just sees this measure as making it easier.”

The delivery bodies are set to be transformed over the next 12 months to align under the Zero Waste Scotland and, from 2011, it is set to develop a business plan with priorities relating to the Zero Waste Plan.