Increase in waste going to landfill

Waste going to landfill from Tayside and Fife has increased in the last year, despite less rubbish being produced in Scotland as a whole.

In Perth and Kinross, Dundee and Fife, the percentage of waste taken to landfill in 2018 increased compared to the previous year, according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

Recycling rates also fared poorly as homes and businesses in Perth and Kinross are recycling 3.9% less than in the 12 months before, compared to a 4.6% increase in landfill waste.

In Fife, recycling dropped by 3.6% while landfill waste increased by 4.1%

Dundee saw a marginal improvement of 0.3% more rubbish being recycled but a 0.9% increase in landfilled rubbish.

In Angus, the percentage of landfill waste plummeted by 19.4% to just 4.4% but the figures showed 40.9% of waste is ending up in “other” destinations such as incinerators.

It bucks the trend across Scotland, where the amount of waste produced by homes and businesses is at the lowest level since records began, despite recycling rates also falling.

Sepa said 2.41 million tonnes of waste was taken to landfill in 2018, a drop of more than 55,000 tonnes in one year, or 2%.

The amount of waste taken to Scottish landfills has dropped by 7.7% between 2011 and 2018, the equivalent of 200,000 tonnes of rubbish.

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, welcomed the findings.

He said: “We have achieved a record low carbon impact for household waste and, while recycling is hugely important, waste prevention has far greater benefits as most of the impacts from waste come not from waste management but from producing the materials and products we discard in the first place.

“It has been a difficult year for recycling due to changes in global markets, especially for paper and plastics.

“Recycling rates for food waste, which is a particularly heavy carbon emitter, has also gone up by 40% over recent years.”

The Scottish Government plans to cut food waste by 33% by 2025, along with ensuring at least 70% of all waste is recycled.