Scotland's Recycling Rate Rockets

Scotland’s Recycling Rate Rockets

The recycling, composting, and reuse of waste in Scotland has exceeded 60% for the first time according to figures published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). 6.96m tonnes of waste was recycled (61% of all waste produced) which amounts to around half a million tonnes compared to 2015.

Businesses and households are also recycling more food waste. 605,614 tonnes of organic waste was recycled in composting or anaerobic digestion facilities, which is a huge 78% more since 2011.

What’s more, the total waste generated country-wide has been reduced by over half a million tonnes since 2015, which means that Scotland has sent the lowest amount of waste to landfill since 2011.

The reaction

The Environment Secretary said that the government is pleased that the country is making good progress towards their 70% which they aim to reach by 2025 and added that they’ve achieved high recycling rates by educating people about it and making it simpler.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said that recycling in Scotland is a success story of individuals and businesses doing their bit, no matter how small. They added that the most economically successful and sustainable countries will be the ones that reuse valuable resources instead of throwing them away, and that they intend to help business reduce waste and reuse materials whenever they can.

The chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland said that they are happy that Scotland is making progress towards being a more circular economy; recycling and reusing goods, sending less waste to landfill and recycling more food waste. They acknowledged that local authorities and other agencies have worked hard to achieve the significant waste reduction in homes and businesses.

Scotland is leading the way in terms of setting an ambitious and long-term waste reduction and recycling policy, phasing out the use of landfill for polluting materials, and striving to become a circular economy.