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Action to tackle Scotland's waste welcomed

27 June 2012

Responding to the launch today of a Scottish Government programme to cut back the volume of waste we produce [1] Dr Dan Barlow, Head of Policy at WWF Scotland said:

"Establishing a 'One Planet' future requires a major change in our approach to resources and waste. Whilst Scotland has made encouraging progress on household recycling, we need to go beyond this and focus on designing waste out of our system.

"In Scotland we use resources as if we had nearly three planets and our ever-growing demand for materials is putting huge pressure on the planet’s biodiversity and threatening our future security.

"Government waste reduction targets will help drive action, but as proposed these fall far short of the level of ambition required if we are to establish a truly resource efficient economy."

On proposals to tackle packaging waste Dr Dan Barlow said:

"Proposals to improve Scotland's packaging recycling rates and pilot deposit return schemes are welcome.

On proposals to introduce a plastic carrier bag charge, Dr Dan Barlow said:

"Single use carrier bags are symbolic of our wasteful attitude to resource use which must be addressed if our vision of a zero waste future is to be realised. Each year in Scotland nearly 600 million carrier bags are used, squandering non-renewable resources, polluting our environment, threatening wildlife and taking decades to break down in landfills. Charging for plastic bags has been highly successful in changing behaviour and cutting use elsewhere and with the number of plastic bags used in Scotland increasing, it is clear that a voluntary approach is not enough."

Notes to Editors


[1] Scottish Government press release
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/06/safeguardingresources27062012


[2] Safeguarding Scotland's Resources - A Programme for the Efficient Use of Our Materials can be found here http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/06/4215

[3]  For information on carrier bag use

http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/new-data-supermarket-carrier-bag-use



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