Scottish Government invests more than £3.4m into local recycling services

The Scottish Government has pledged an investment of more than £3.4m from its ‘Recycling Improvement Fund’ into improving recycling and reuse services in three local authorities. This brings the total investment announced to date to £23m.

The projects in Aberdeen City, Perth and Kinross, and Renfrewshire Council have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by over 8,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent of removing over 4,400 cars from the roads.

Aberdeen City has been allocated £717,515, which will be put towards improving reuse facilities and preventing bulky white goods and furniture from being lost to landfills. This project includes a mini reuse shop and aims to capture hard-to-recycle items.

Approximately £2.3m will be spent in Perth and Kinross on improving and modernising recycling services. Services will be extended to residents in Perth City Centre and ensure the quality and quantity of collected items is improved.

Lastly, in Renfrewshire Council, £346,107 will be spent on improving sorting facilities that separate materials collected in ‘mixed waste’ skips at recycling centres. The Council hopes to improve the quality of materials collected and reduce the waste in landfills.

In total, 15 local authorities have now benefited from the ‘Recycling Improvement Fund’, which will be worth £70m over the next five years. Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater claims it is one of the biggest investments into recycling and reuse in Scotland in a generation.

The Minister said: “Recycling has a huge role to play in Scotland’s response to the climate crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland will benefit from projects supported by the fund, which will make it easier for households to recycle and increase local recycling rates.
“These actions will boost recycling and make a major contribution to the fight against the climate crisis.”
In response to the Government’s announcement, Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “This latest round of ‘Recycling Improvement Fund’ investment from the Scottish Government signifies the continuous commitment to improving Scotland’s recycling infrastructure.
“Through our Charter for Household Recycling, councils have pledged to bring in consistent and comprehensive recycling services across Scotland.
“It’s fantastic to see support for such innovative projects that will help achieve this goal. Recycling as much as possible will help to address climate change, so we want to make this process as simple, and effective, as possible for the citizens of Scotland.”