Scotland is producing less municipal waste than in previous years, and recycling more of what the country does produce. Figures released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency show that Scotland's recycling and composting rate for the last quarter of the 2008/09 financial year (January to March) increased to 33.2 percent, an improvement on 30.1 percent for the same quarter of 2007/08. That puts the rolling year figure (April 2008 to March 2009) at 34.3 percent.

Whilst the current economic recession may have a part to play, progress has also been made on stabilising the growth of municipal solid waste produced in Scotland. Approximately 3.29 million tonnes of municipal solid waste were produced in 2008/2009, a decrease of 120,000 tonnes from the amount produced in 2007/2008.

And the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill in Scotland is already well below the 1.32 million tonnes limit set for Scotland for 2009/10 by the European Commission under the Landfill Allowance Scheme, with 1.26 million tonnes landfilled in the financial year 2008/2009.

Kenny Boag, SEPA's National Waste Policy Unit Manager, said: "It is very encouraging to see Scotland's municipal waste recycling rate continue to rise all be it the rise on this occasion is modest. It is important that we reflect upon this and continue to look for practical means by which we can all redouble our efforts to further reduce, reuse and recycle our waste as meeting the Scottish Government's target of a 40 percent recycling rate by 2010 will be extremely challenging."

Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said: "We are making progress but we must go further in relation to all types of waste. SEPA's latest provisional figures show that we are already recycling and composting 34.3 per cent of our municipal waste, but we need to reach 40 per cent by the end of 2010. The bar is set and we must work together to reach our goal of a Zero Waste Scotland. Our draft Zero Waste Plan maps out how we can reduce the country's waste, meet our highly ambitious waste targets and contribute to the work on climate change."

Quarter 4 figures and rolling year figures are reported by local authority area and for Scotland as a whole and can be found at sepa.org.uk.

Quelle: Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

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