Scotland unveils plans to ban recyclables going to landfill

Scotland has unveiled ‘radical’ plans to ban recyclables going to landfill to help its drive towards zero waste.

These plans include source segregation and separate collection of key recyclable materials (paper and card, glass, metals, and plastics) and a ban on sending all biodegradable waste to landfill.

Other key measures include:

• A restriction on the inputs to thermal treatment facilities.
• A ban on mixing separately collected recyclable materials.

The Scottish government said it wanted to introduce these “radical plans” to make Scotland one of the highest performing nations for recycling in Europe.

These measures are to be included in Scotland’s Zero Waste Regulations.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “This is a major step forward in the Scottish Government’s drive towards zero waste.

“These measures will set Scotland on the path to becoming one of the highest performing recycling nations in Europe, realising the full potential of items we throw away.

“Our ban on municipal biodegradable waste going to landfill by 2020 is the first of its kind in the UK and one of the most ambitious of its kind in Europe, if not the world.

“It will make a significant contribution to reducing emissions from landfill and contribute to wider efforts to tackle climate change.

‘No mention of costs’
Speaking about Scotland’s policy document on Zero Waste Regulations, Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle said that “its thrust is to pursue high quality recycling of materials with a strong preference for source separation and/or quality standards for MRF outputs that match those achieved by source separation”.

Searle also said that “there is no ban on the landfilling of recyclable material that is rejected for reasons of quality from the source-separated recycling process”.

Searle added: “The document makes no mention of the costs associated with all of this but does emphasise the issue of the economic value of recyclable materials. It also appears to be challenging the waste management industry to produce most of the answers!

“I’ve no doubt that much more detail and debate will emerge over the coming weeks. Since the document appears to be driven by a genuine desire to see better resource efficiency, it will be most interesting to see the reaction from other “regions” of the UK.”

WWF Scotland head of policy Dr Dan Barlow said: “Achieving a low carbon and resource efficient economy requires a step change in our approach to waste, avoiding huge quantities of valuable materials being sent to landfill or incineration and instead focusing on opportunities to reuse and recycle.”

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