Waste: Government efforts to shake 'dirty man of Europe' tag welcomed

24 January 2008
Topics: Politics, Waste

Commenting on today’s (Thursday January 24) Scottish parliamentary
statement on waste by Environment Minister Richard Lochhead [1],
Stuart Hay - Head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland - said:

"Friends of the Earth Scotland warmly welcomes the higher recycling targets
of 50% by 2013, 60% by 2020 and 70% by 2025. These levels should be secured
well in advance of those target dates if we are to catch up with other
European Countries [2].

"Ministers have taken a broadly pragmatic approach to energy from waste,
focusing on small-scale, localised, high efficiency facilities. These
criteria will have to be tightly defined and toughly enforced to ensure that
resource and energy wasting incinerators are avoided.

"The government needs to work hard to make this policy succeed. To do it
they will need a strong focus on waste prevention, and a commitment to
ensure the volume of waste produced in Scotland begins to decrease by 2010.
We are glad that a limit has been placed on volumes going to energy from
waste plants. However, even the 25% cap proposed could result in a major
increase in the volume of waste incinerated.

"We welcome the decision to reject plans such as Lothian’s to burn half
their waste. This is a strong signal to councils not to go down this route,
and to focus on waste reduction and recycling.

"Some countries already recycle twice as much waste as Scotland. This
shows that we still need more investment in the right facilities if we
aren’t to shake of the tag of 'dirty man of Europe'. We also need to slash
the amount of waste we produce; per head we produce twice as much as the
best areas in Europe such as Flanders [2]. Today’s announcement is a useful
starting point and should prevent misguided investment in incineration
detracting from the real priorities of waste prevention and recycling.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] The Scottish Government announced:

£2.5m for community recycling

A 50% recycling & composting rate by 2013, rising to a minimum of 60% in
2020 and a target of 70% by 2025

A maximum of 5% landfill by 2025

A maximum 25% (cap) for energy from waste, focused on anaerobic digestion
for food waste.
Large inefficient energy from waste plants will be opposed if they crowd out
recycling and waste prevention.

Rejection of current proposals in the Lothains and Lanarkshire to incinerate
40 – 50% of waste

£100m for recycling facilities

£50m for waste prevention

Creating a zero waste think tank

See: Media Release http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/01/24145725

[2]   Figures and statistics

Scotland’s current recycling rate is around 30% whereas the
Netherlands and areas of Belgium (Flanders) are already recycling more than
65% of their waste. In the case of the Italian municipality Nichelino,
recycling rates jumped from around 20% in 2005 to 60% in 2006.

Scotland produces round 3.4 million tonnes is municipal waste per year.

Figures released in November 2007 by the Scottish Environment Protection
Agency (SEPA) reveal that Scotland’s recycling and composting rate improved
to 29.8% for the year between July 2006 to June 2007. The recycling and
composting rate for the first quarter of 2007/2008 was 33.4%.

Scotland produces 1160kg of waste per person compared with Flanders which
has a per capita figure of 560kg

[3]   Evidence from England and Denmark shows that incineration can crowd
out recycling, especially where long-term contracts keep recyclable material
in the waste stream.

[4]   Research has shown that a standard energy from waste plant generating
electricity produces more carbon than even a modern coal power station.

[5]   One energy from waste facility in Perthshire has already been approved
and another large plant is proposed for Dunbar East Lothian.

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