Scottish recycling continues to rise

Latest figures released by the Scottish Executive show that recycling rates north of the border have increased by 6% over the past year.


While the latest rates are unlikely to turn Europe’s best waste managers green with envy, Scotland recycled or composted 22.9% of its municipal waste between October and December last year, up from 16.6% during the same quarter in 2004.

Environment Minister Ross Finnie welcomed the rise, saying it showed Scotland’s target of recycling 25% by the end of the year was in reach.

The Environment Minister Ross Finnie welcomed that in 2005 Scotland recycled/composted 22.8 per cent of municipal public waste – showing we remain on track are close to meeting our target of recycling 25 per cent of waste by 2006.

“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,” he said.

“Above all, though, the people of Scotland have participated in recycling and I want to thank them for helping to make Scotland a better place to live.

“Of course, more needs to be done. As well as a target of 25 per cent recycling/composting by 2006, we also have targets of 30 per cent by 2008 and 55 per cent by 2020.

“However we also want to prevent waste arising in the first place. Our consultation on preventing household waste has just closed and we now start to analyse the responses.

“Today the initial proposals from local authorities on infrastructure to divert waste away from landfill are published. The proposals will be evaluated to make certain they are affordable, represent value for money and complement our work on recycling and waste prevention.”

The latest recycling/composting statistics are available on the SEPA website.

Sam Bond

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