This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Environmental issues at heart of policies
04/11/2003
The Executive's programme for the environment and
sustainable development for the next four years has been
outlined at an event inEdinburgh.
Minister for Environment and Rural Development,
Ross Finnie, gave the keynote address at the Centre for
Scottish Public Policy conference "Working Together for
a Sustainable Scotland".
Mr Finnie said:
"Our Partnership Agreement makes the Executive's
commitment clear - we want aScotlandthat delivers sustainable development; that puts
environmental concerns at the heart of public policy and
secures environmental justice for all ofScotland's communities.
"Safeguarding the environment is a priority for
every Minister in the Executive and every department. I
will shortly be meeting each Cabinet Minister to
examine how their programmes meet that overarching
commitment.
"Concern for the environment must not be reserved
to government alone. I want to ensure that the whole of
the public sector acts as responsible custodian. Our
commitment to strategic environmental assessment, which
I announced recently, is a vital component of
this.
"Massive investment inScotland's drinking water and waste water infrastructure and
in the National Waste Plan provide tangible examples of our
commitment.
"Under the National Waste Plan we have set out
ambitious targets to transform the way we manage
resources. Using resources more sustainably is about
changing the ways in which we deal with waste and about
changing public attitudes.
"I am determined, in partnership with my Ministerial
colleagues and a wide range of stakeholders, to work
together for a sustainableScotland."
The Partnership Agreement made a commitment that "We
will legislate to introduce Strategic Environmental
Assessment to ensure that the full environmental impacts of
all new strategies, programmes and plans developed by the
public sector are properly considered". This will
be implemented by a two-stage process, as announced by Mr
Finnie on 23 October.
The National Waste Plan was launched by the Minister
for Environment onFebruary 24, 2003. This plan establishes the direction of the
Executive's policies for sustainable waste management to
2020.
Implementing the National Waste Plan will:
provide widespread segregated kerbside
collections acrossScotland(to over 90% of households by
2020)
aim to stop growth in the amount of
municipal waste produced by 2010
achieve 25% recycling and composting of
municipal waste by 2006, and 55% by 2020 (35%
recycling and 20% composting)
recover energy from 14% of municipal
waste
reduce landfilling of municipal waste
from around 90% to 30%
provide widespread waste minimisation
advice to businesses
develop markets for recycled material to
help recycling become viable and reduce
costs