Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current level of resources directed towards household recycling is sufficient to meet its household recycling targets.
Although SEPA official statistics for 2023 show that Scotland’s household recycling rate increased slightly to 43.5%, we know that there is more to do to accelerate progress to meet our circular economy aims.
The Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund has now awarded over £63 million to 25 local authorities to increase the quantity and quality of recycling across Scotland and we expect to see those projects deliver significant results locally in the coming years.
We are also in the early stages of the co-design of the new Household Recycling Code of Practice. This will deliver new statutory recycling standards and more consistent and easy to use services for households across Scotland. The co-design will enable national and local government to identify if additional resources are needed to achieve our ambitions to drive up reuse and recycling rates.