Chamber and committees

A recent report by Zero Waste Scotland suggests that the greenhouse gas emissions from the incineration of residual waste at Scottish energy from waste plants are on average lower than landfilling the same waste. That being said, in terms of environmental impact prevention, reuse and recycling are always preferable over energy recovery or disposal of waste as waste management options.

The most recent statistics shows that carbon emissions associated with Scotland’s household waste in 2019 dropped once again on the previous year to reach the lowest level since official recording began. These statistics are available here: https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/

Energy from waste facilities (EfW) are already required to report energy generation to SEPA on an annual basis. Permits issued by SEPA to EfW plants require each facility to produce a Heat and Power Plan and report annual progress to SEPA each year. This report includes information on energy generation in the previous year and progress towards meeting heat use targets.

Prevention, reuse and recycling are always preferable waste management options, over energy recovery or disposal of waste.

We have ambitious targets to improve the way we manage materials by reducing waste, increasing recycling and keeping materials at a higher value for longer but still need capacity to dispose of residual waste while we make the transition to a circular economy in Scotland.

This year’s Programme for Government sets out an ambitious set of measures to help make it easier for households and businesses to support this goal, including the establishment of a £70 million fund to improve local authority recycling collection infrastructure. The Parliament has also now passed legislation to implement a deposit return scheme for Scotland which will help to boost recycling, and we are working with the other governments of the UK on reform of the packaging producer responsibility system to reduce waste and improve recycling.

Energy from waste (EfW) operators submit quarterly data returns on the types and quantities of waste they accept. These are included in the Official Statistics on Waste Incineration, available at https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/

These returns include items that are unsuitable for processing and picked out of the waste before processing or ash after processing. The next destination of waste leaving the site is a voluntary field in the quarterly return form.

EfW operators must report the types of waste they accept by EWC Code. There is no requirement to report a more detailed compositional analysis of the residual waste they accept. There are no plans to include such a requirement in the regulations.

Two thirds of local authorities improved their recycling rate between 2018 and 2019. We are aware that some local authorities face specific challenges in improving their recycling rates.

Alongside Zero Waste Scotland, we will continue to work with local authorities to support further progress. As part of this approach, our Programme for Government 2020-21 announced a £70 million recycling fund, to support local authorities in improving recycling collection infrastructure; and the development of a route map to achieving our ambitious 2025 recycling targets.

The Scottish Government last met representatives of the aviation industry on 10 November 2020.

Certain subsectors have been identified and prioritised but planned work has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Zero Waste Scotland and partners have developed a specific toolkit for the hospitality and food service sector which has been promoted and shared with key stakeholders, including through a regional workshop (which 40 businesses attended), webinars (235 sign-ups) and round table events (12 operators with multiple businesses). The toolkit includes an e-module, a quick start guide and posters for kitchens to reinforce best practice and behaviours. Further sector specific guidance is planned for the next year, and will take into account the impacts of COVID-19 for certain sectors.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This information is held at a local level by individual local authorities and each authority would need to be contacted to provide the details.

Information on campaigns run by, or in association with, Scottish Government is provided in the following table. A significant proportion of litter prevention communication is led by local authorities in line with their statutory responsibilities.

This information is held at a local level by individual local authorities and each authority would need to be contacted to provide the details being requested.