Figures released show that Scotland’s local authorities recycled nearly 38% of the municipal waste they collected in 2010.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) calculates the figures from data provided by local authorities on behalf of the Scottish Government, and releases the figures four times a year.
In 2010 37.8% of municipal waste collected by local authorities was recycled or composted, compared to 36% in 2009.
Also revealed are further drops in:
- total amount of municipal waste collected by local authorities (down 85,942 tonnes to 3,129,821)
- municipal waste going to landfill (down 108,306 tonnes to 1,850,716)
- the tonnage of biodegradable municipal waste, such as garden and food waste, which is being sent to landfill (down 67,749 tonnes to 1,109,689)
Figures for every one of Scotland’s 32 local authorities are available here, along with the figures for the whole of Scotland
Gary Walker, Waste Unit Manager in SEPA’s national waste team, said:
“Thanks to the continued efforts of the Scottish people and our local authorities, along their private sector partners, the recycling rate is continuing to improve. The fact that more waste is being composted and recycled at the same time as less waste is being collected and less waste landfilled, shows that the concept of reduce, reuse, recycle is increasingly becoming part of Scotland’s way of life.
“As we aim to recycle more and more of our waste it is getting more challenging, but let’s not forget that only five years ago Scotland produced 285,773 more tonnes of waste, and only recycled/composted 24.3%.”
Figures are available here
