14May

Scotland struggling to meet waste target

Posted on 14th May, 2010

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has said that Scotland will struggle to meet its target of recycling 40 per cent of rubbish by the end of 2010. Latest recycling figures show that the country currently recycles 34 per cent of rubbish. This is almost double the recycling rate of five years ago. However, there is a concern that the speed of increase in recycling rates has slowed considerably in recent years.

The latest report ‘Waste Data Digest 10’, revealed that recycling rates rose by just 4 per cent between 2007 and 2008 compared to a 13 per cent increase between 2006 and 2007.

Martin Marsden, head of environmental quality at SEPA says,

“The target to recycle 30 per cent of Scotland’s waste was met at the end of 2008, although meeting the 40 per cent target will be more challenging.”