This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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National Waste Plan by the Autumn
20/02/2002
A National Waste Plan will be ready by the Autumn,
Environment and Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie told
a conference in Glasgow today.
A high-level advisory group is to be set up to oversee
the integration of local area plans into a national
strategy which will include mandatory recycling and waste
reduction targets for every local authority.
In the meantime, the law is to be changed by amending
the Environment Protection Act to give Ministers the power
to set targets and to place a duty on councils to have
their own integrated waste management plans that will have
to meet them.
At the conference organised by the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency and the Institute of Wastes Management,
Mr Finnie said:
"If we want Scotland to be a cleaner, safer, healthier
place, we have to reduce drastically landfill and treat
waste as a valuable resource. We have to help business
recognise that good waste management makes good business
sense. And, we have to convince people across Scotland that
it doesn't take much effort to reduce, reuse and
recycle.
"We have made a lot of progress in the last two and half
years. The Area Waste Plans are nearing completion, backed
up by the £50 million Strategic Waste Fund.
"The National Waste Plan based on the area waste plans
will be in place by Autumn this year. We then want to set
mandatory recycling and waste reduction targets and the
forthcoming Local Government Bill will give Ministers the
power to set such targets.
"But we need to make more progress faster, and to drive
the waste agenda forward I am setting up a new high level
Scottish Waste Strategy Advisory Group consisting of
representatives of key stakeholders under my
Chairmanship."
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