Scottish Government
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Scotland's recycling performance
On the same day that new figures showed further improvements in Scotland's recycling performance, a new website to aid local authorities do even better has been launched.
The Waste Aware Partners website, being run by Waste Aware Scotland, can also be accessed by businesses, community groups and other organisations, and will enable local authorities to share campaign materials, ideas and best practice.
Figures published today by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) show that Scottish local authorities are now collectively recycling and composting 32.9 per cent of municipal waste.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
"I am very pleased to see that a number of local authorities are heading in the right direction on our journey to becoming a Zero Waste society and setting a good example for others to follow.
"Clackmannanshire, Moray, Fife and East and South Ayrshire are blazing a trail, having already exceeded 40 per cent of waste being recycled or composted.
"A little further behind are Dundee and Orkney, but both are demonstrating that it is possible to overcome the challenges that city and rural local authorities can face in recycling waste.
"We need to do better to achieve our target of a 40 per cent reduction as a nation. I am keen to see further improvements across Scotland, but particularly our larger local authorities could make a huge contribution to our drive to become a Zero Waste society.
"While the improvement in recycling performance is welcome, much more needs to be done. The Scottish Government has set an ambitious target of recycling 70 per cent of municipal waste by 2025.
"The launch of the Waste Aware Partners website today will help enable local authorities to work together and share best practice across Scotland.
"A significant amount of activity and awareness-raising to strengthen our position is planned for later this year and I want to encourage local authorities to work together for a cleaner, greener Scotland."
The Scottish Government's key targets in relation to municipal waste are:
- To stop the growth in municipal waste by 2010
- To achieve 40 per cent recycling/composting of municipal waste by 2010; 50 per cent by 2013; 60 per cent by 2020 and 70 per cent by 2025
- No more than 25 per cent should be treated by energy from waste by 2025
- No more than 5 per cent should be landfilled by 2025
- A commitment to recycle is one of the Scottish Government's 10 Greener pledges
Related Information
http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/waste_data_reports/landfill_allowance.aspx
