from Caledonian Mercury, 13 April 2010
A series of radical recommendations aimed at eliminating Scotland’s waste, including ‘pay as you throw’ schemes, landfill bans and a network of biomass plants, are being sidelined by the Scottish government, insiders say.
Five authoritative reports by the Zero Waste Think Tank, a group of experts set up to advise ministers, are being virtually ignored in drawing up the nation’s waste plans. Critics fear that ministers may be losing the political will for tough action on waste.
The reports, which were meant to inform waste policy, were quietly posted on the government’s website last month at the same time as other announcements about recycling. No reference was made to their publication.
The Zero Waste Think Tank, involving 15 waste specialists from public agencies, voluntary organisations and businesses, started work in March 2008. It ended by producing the five reports, covering delivery, regulation, business and climate pollution.
The reports’ recommendations included the adoption of controversial “pay as you throw” schemes designed to encourage consumers to minimise their rubbish. They also suggested that the dumping of certain wastes on landfill sites should be banned.
Bans on glass, metals and plastics, along with commercial and industrial biomass, should be announced immediately, and then phased in between 2012 and 2015, they said. The reports endorsed schemes under which consumers are required to pay deposits on returnable containers in shops.
The Zero Waste Think Tank also backed a new national network of facilities for burning and composting biomass, which includes wood, food and other organic waste. The plants could be used to provide heat and electricity for local communities.
The think tank’s reports called for an “urgent review” of the legislative instruments necessary to deliver their recommendations. They urged an independent assessment of the options for delivering support to local authorities, the private waste sector and local communities.
“There is a clear need for more rapid decision making and deployment of resources and direction from Scottish government to ensure that progress is made up to 2020 and beyond and that the Scottish waste management system evolves in a co-ordinated and cost effective manner,” said one report.
Another concluded: “The creation of infrastructure to support a zero waste Scotland will be a significant undertaking but one that will yield economic and social benefits as well as environmental gains. It is a journey which will take time, but the immediate steps are readily apparent.”
But insiders say that little of this thinking has fed into the Scottish government’s recent consultation on Scotland’s zero waste plan. The final version of the plan is due to be published by ministers after a debate on waste policy in the Scottish Parliament scheduled for 29 April.
The idea of zero waste, repeatedly endorsed by ministers, is to eliminate the unnecessary use of raw materials, reusing products where possible and maximising recycling, composting and energy recovery. The environment minister, Richard Lochhead, is due to launch a new “zero waste recycling campaign” with the help of elephants at Blair Drummond safari park near Stirling tomorrow.
“The Zero Waste Think Tank came up with some fairly radical proposals, and this is what think tanks are for, to provide stimulating ideas,” said Professor James Curran, director of environmental science at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
“For me, the crucial parts were about designing products so that they don’t create waste in the first place and about creating the right business model to release the huge economic potential of a zero waste country.”
Sepa’s former waste expert, John Ferguson, now head of strategy at Binn Eco Park near Perth, described the government’s zero waste plan as an “unprecedented opportunity” to deal with mixed waste. “Landfill bans for specific materials offer an opportunity to prevent methane emissions and odour problems for local communities,” he argued.
Another member of the think tank, Jan Bebbington, professor of accounting at St Andrews University, agreed: “If we are serious about pursuing zero waste then we need to look at all possible solutions, including rolling landfill bans.”
The Scottish government insisted that the recommendations of the think tank had fed directly into the consultation on zero waste launched last year. “The Scottish government is now considering all consultation responses before finalising its zero waste Scotland plan,” said a government spokesman.
Environmentalists called on the government to implement the recommendations of the Zero Waste Think Tank. “Proposals for landfill bans, pay as you throw schemes and deposit return schemes have been shown to work elsewhere in Europe and can all play a valuable role in helping to further transform Scotland's approach to waste,” said WWF Scotland’s head of policy, Dr Dan Barlow.
"A step change in our attitude to resource use is essential if we are to make the prospect of a zero waste Scotland become a reality.”
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