Scottish Ministers have zero ambition on waste
For immediate release 9 June 2010
Greens criticised the Scottish Government's new waste strategy, published today, for failing to deliver any ambition to go beyond the minimum requirements set by the European Union. Eleven years into devolution and Ministers admit they do not have the information they need on current waste levels, nor does this document actually set a target for zero waste. The only headline target the Minister commits to in the document is for 70% of Scotland's waste to be recycled by 2025, with 5% going to landfill by the same date. The objective, Greens argue, should be to set an actual zero waste target and to reduce overall volumes of waste rather than to recycle a higher proportion of a Scotland's waste mountain and send more to incineration, as the SNP propose.
Robin Harper MSP said:
"The Scottish Government's zero waste plan attempts to say and do more of the right things on waste reduction, but many of its new targets are simply set by the EU and the Government is simply going through the motions. Following the decision to overturn Highland Council's rejection of the Invergordon incinerator, it's clear the SNP Government's approach is to bury or burn our waste. They are moving slowly from landfilling to creating a stream of waste to be incinerated. The previous 25% cap on waste going to incineration - something Ministers appear to have seen as a target - was bad enough, but it's been simply removed in favour of some even less restrictive conditions.
"Mass burn incineration, permitted under this plan, cannot ever be a clean technology. It's truly just landfill in the sky, even when it gets rebadged as so-called energy from waste. It's also bad for the economy: recycling creates six times more jobs with the same waste than landfill, and thirty-six times more jobs than incineration.
"What we need is a radical commitment to reducing the huge mountain of waste produced in Scotland. Recycling and reusing is only part of the picture. We need to stop this mountain being produced in the first place. At a time of economic recession, there is never a better time to start saving our valuable resources and create new, sustainable green jobs for our future. There's already significant pressure on funding for some of the best community recycling projects. The crucial test for the Minister will be whether he can protect this sector or is prepared to let it sink amongst the cuts to public services."