Council
in Partnership with
Waste Aware Scotland
14 December 2004
The Western Isles council
has recently taken the decision to join forces with
the Scottish Waste Awareness Group (SWAG) to promote
the Reduce Reuse Recycle message to the residents of
the Western Isles. The decision puts the Western Isles
in the position of being able to draw on the knowledge
of the SWAG team and their experience of working with
all 32 local authorities in Scotland, and
being able to draw on the campaigning catalogue of the
Waste Aware Scotland campaign.
SWAG was formed in the
year 2000 with the backing of the Scottish Executive
and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).
SWAG’s remit is to raise awareness and change
behaviour towards Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, in line
with the National Waste Strategy, which aims to cut
the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. The National
Waste Plan sets out the following targets for local
authorities to achieve:
- by 2006 we aim to recycle 25% of our
waste;
- by 2010 we aim to stop the yearly
increase in the amount of waste that we produce;
- by 2020 we aim to collect some waste
materials separately for recycling from 90% of households;
- by 2020 we aim for a 55% recycling
rate.
SWAG is working with
local authorities to develop systems to help the reduction
of waste going to landfill, primarily through delivery
of the Waste Aware Scotland campaign.
So far, campaigns across
various parts of Scotland have resulted in considerable
success. In the Forth
Valley for
example, Clackmannanshire has seen a 110% rise in recycling
and Stirling has seen
a 100% increase in recycling. East Renfrewshire has
seen a 77% rise and Dumfries and Galloway
has seen a 30% rise in recycling.
In 2000, the Western
Isles area was surveyed as part of the national survey
carried out by SWAG. The aims of this survey were to
establish a baseline of attitudes and behaviours towards
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and to understand some of
the reasons why some people chose not carry out these
behaviours. The report that was produced (Public Attitudes
to Reduce, Reuse Recycle in Scotland) was the result of over 9,000 household
surveys carried out in Scotland.
The results from this
survey showed that only 11% of households recycled in
the area – reflected in the local authority figures
showing that in the previous year over 90% of all waste
in the Western Isles was sent to landfill.
The main barriers to
recycling in the area were identified as a lack of facilities
and the distance required to travel, along with a lack
of information – 21% of householders in the Western
Isles did not know where their local recycling facilities
were.
However, residents indicated
a willingness to participate in recycling schemes, with
85% willingness to participate in a kerbside recycling
scheme, and 73% willing to recycle if there were more
local recycling points.
As a result of this,
the Western Isles authority has been developing local
recycling facilities in the area to complement the 31
Recycling Points and 1 Recycling Centre. A kerbside
recycling pilot scheme has been planned for early in
2005, as well as a green waste kerbside collection and
an increase in the number of Recycling Points.
David Gunn, SWAG Assistant
Campaigns Manager, said, "It's great to be working with such an enthusiastic
team. The proposed schemes have great potential in helping
to increase the recycling rate and reduce waste across
the area. We know there has been widespread public anticipation
regarding the delivery of new recycling facilities,
and are hoping that everyone across the Western Isles
will be able to help us get it sorted."
These improvements have
been funded by the Strategic Waste Fund, and also from
the additional £350 million that has recently
been made available by the Scottish Executive for the
improvement of recycling facilities across Scotland.
In August of this year
it was announced by Ross Finnie, Minister for Environmental
& Rural Affairs announced that £25 million
of this fund would go to improving the recycling facilities
in the Western Isles.
To find out more, please
visit the Waste Aware Scotland website at www.wascot.org.ukFor more information:
Waste Aware
helpline (Western Isles) - 01851 709900
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