Scotland has decreased the carbon impact of its household waste despite a dip in the overall recycling rate, according to figures for 2018 released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) today.
Last year the carbon impact of Scotland’s household waste reduced by 15% compared to 2011 levels and was equivalent to 5.76 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. This fall is said to be due to increased recycling of high impact waste materials, as well as waste minimisation and reduced landfilling of biodegradable waste.
Scottish household waste figures for 2018 have been released by SEPA
Yet Scotland’s overall household waste recycling rate was down to 44.7%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the 45.5% rate achieved in 2017.
This downward turn is the first year-on-year decrease in the household waste recycling rate since recording using the current household waste definition began in 2011.
The reduction was driven by a decrease in paper and carboard recycling and the amount of organic waste composted. However plastics recycling increased for the seventh consecutive year, whilst more glass was also recycled than in 2017.
Minimising waste
Ahead of the 2021 Scottish landfill ban on biodegradable municipal waste, the country sent 7% less household waste to landfill than in 2017, amounting to 75,491 fewer tonnes. For the second year running, more waste was recycled in Scotland than sent to landfill, by around 40,000 tonnes.
Over three quarters of waste diverted from landfill which was not recycled was sent for incineration at energy recovery facilities, an increase of 65,638 tonnes from 2017.
“While the overall figure has gone down slightly, there have been encouraging individual results with some of the top performing local authorities showing what can be done by achieving rates of more than 60%.”
The total amount of household waste generated in Scotland also dropped 2% for 2018 to 2.41 million tonnes. SEPA reports that several local authorities have attributed this to the introduction of three weekly waste collection services.
“Difficult year”
Iain Gulland, chief executive at Zero Waste Scotland, celebrated the record low carbon impact, but admitted more would need to be done to meet Scotland’s 2025 targets.
“It has been a difficult year for recycling due to changes in global markets, especially for paper and plastics,” he explained.
Commenting on the falling recycling rate, Mr Gulland added: “While the overall figure has gone down slightly, there have been encouraging individual results with some of the top performing local authorities showing what can be done by achieving rates of more than 60%.”
He also claimed that the figures showed the importance of waste prevention when trying to reduce environmental impact.
“We have achieved a record low carbon impact for household waste and, while recycling is hugely important, waste prevention has far greater benefits, as most of the impacts from waste come not from waste management, but from producing the materials and products we discard in the first place,” Mr Gulland said.
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Source: letsrecycle.com General
