‘Councils missing out on valuable resources’

More than 64,000 tonnes of plastic food packaging and bottles are binned every year in Scotland at a cost of £11 million, according to campaigners.

Zero Waste Scotland said households are ditching an average of 27kg of plastic food and drink packaging that could be recycled.

The plastic would have been worth £5.7 million but instead cost an estimated £5.3m to send to landfill, the organisation claims.

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Plastic is a valuable resource, and one that can help generate additional income when recycled properly, yet we are throwing it away, adding to pollution in Scotland and wasting public money.

“There’s an enormous opportunity to turn single-use plastic bottles into a valuable resource if placed in the correct recycling bins.

“We have come so far with our recycling capabilities, so when it’s not possible to reduce or reuse plastic we ask everyone to put their used plastic bottles and food packing into the relevant recycling bin where they can.”

According to Zero Waste Scotland, an estimated 20 million plastic bottles are littered in Scotland each year and about 120,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste is produced from households over a 12-month period.

The Scottish Government plans to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds as part of wider measures to clamp down on plastic pollution, including introducing a bottle deposit return scheme.

Last week, ministers announced that single-use coffee cups are to be banned in Scottish Government buildings in a further effort to reduce plastic pollution.