This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
New funding to improve waste management
06/06/2003
Five local authorities today shared more than £14
million to invest in initiatives to improve recycling,
waste management facilities and kerbside collection
services.
Minister for Environment and Rural Development Ross
Finnie said the money - £14.17 million from the Strategic
Waste Fund - will help North and South Lanarkshire, Fife,
West Lothian and East Renfrewshire councils further develop
strategies to build on the targets of the
National Waste Plan, outlined in February.
The announcement is an indication of the Scottish
Executive's commitment to the environment and waste
recycling, outlined in the recently published
Partnership for a Better Scotland and the National
Waste Plan.
Mr Finnie said:
"Waste is everyone's business - how we handle it is an
issue which affects us all. Material squandered through
burial in landfill sites contributes to global warming,
blights our landscape and degrades our environment. This
material is a valuable resource which can be managed in
more sustainable ways.
"This second major tranche of funding from the Strategic
Waste Fund will make a significant contribution in taking
forward the Executive's commitments to increase recycling
and composting to 55 per cent by 2020, and reduce our
reliance on landfill by 60 per cent.
"The plans we are now funding have been drawn up in
partnership with local communities, neighbouring councils
and the not-for-profit sector. This substantial funding
will support urgent action to bring about real improvements
in communities covered by the councils."
South Lanarkshire Council will receive £7.166 million
over 3 years to implement a domestic segregated and bulky
uplift collection systems, as well as improvements to civic
amenity sites and the introduction of a local environmental
marketing and publicity campaign. This will enable South
Lanarkshire Council to recycle and compost 28% of their
waste and offer kerbside collections to over 80,000
households. The council currently recycles and composts 12%
of municipal waste.
An additional award is expected to be announced after
the completion of further assessment that will enable South
Lanarkshire Council to implement a green waste collection
service .
Fife Council will receive £5.38 million over 3 years to
fund the implementation of paper and green waste kerbside
collection schemes, as well as improving the provision of
community recycling banks and civic amenity recycling
centres. This will enable Fife Council to recycle and
compost an additional 124,000 tonnes and increase kerbside
collections to 160,000 householders. The money will build
on the 2% of waste which is currently recycled.
An award to East Renfrewshire Council for £934,000 over
3 years will fund the implementation of green waste and dry
recyclables kerbside collection schemes as well as
employing a waste minimisation officer and starting a
marketing/publicity campaign. This will enable East
Renfrewshire Council to recycle and compost an additional
13,075 tonnes of waste each year. They currently recycle
13% of municipal waste.
An award to North Lanarkshire Council for £618,250 this
financial year will provide further funding to last years
award for improved mobile educational facilities, further
research and extending the piloting of the kerbside
collection of glass and green waste to over 15,000
households. The council currently has a 6% figure on waste
recycling.
An additional award to West Lothian Council for £67,000
will provide additional separate household collection
containers . The local authority currently recycles 6.1% of
municipal waste.
The Strategic Waste Fund is a specific grant scheme
established by the Scottish Executive for the
implementation of the National Waste Strategy: Scotland. It
was set up under The Financial Assistance for the
Environmental Purposes (Scotland) Order 2000 (S.S.I.
2000/430).
The National Waste Strategy, adopted by the Scottish
Executive in 1999, sets the framework for changing the way
waste is handled in Scotland; increasing recycling and
recovery and reducing our reliance on landfill. Eleven Area
Waste Plans have been prepared by groups involving local
government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA),
industry and community organisations to establish the Best
Practicable Environmental Option for Waste in each Area.
The National Waste Plan, launched in February 2003,
combined the targets from the Area Plans to set overall
targets for Scotland.
Total provision for local authorities in the Strategic
Waste Fund is £16m for 2002/03, £30.2m for 2003/4, £90.2,
for 2004/5 and £111.7 for 2005/6. The Scottish Executive
has already allocated £6 million between all councils last
financial year for initiatives to increase recycling as
well as specific awards to eight councils totalling £110
million to 2020..
The latest reported recycling figures are taken from the
Accounts Commission data for 2001-02 (published February
2003).