Third Scottish Zero Waste Town sought to trial innovative approaches to reducing waste
The programme, run by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), asks towns to pilot innovative approaches that will helps their communities reach Scottish Government goals of a 70 per cent household recycling rate and a 33 per cent reduction in food waste by 2025.
Now, communities are being sought to put forward cases as to how their residents and businesses could work together to reduce their overall waste, increase recycling, and use resources more efficiently.
Dunbar, a costal town in East Lothian, and the western island of Bute are already designated Zero Waste Towns, and for the third town ZWS is particularly hoping for urban areas to apply to focus on a different type of community to the ones already covered.
Measures suggested in bids should aim to increase reuse, repair and resource efficiency. The successful community will receive funding from the Zero Waste Town Development Fund to help implement its ideas. The fund is part of ZWS’s Resource Efficient Circular Economy Accelerator Programme (RECAP), which aims to maximise both the economic and environmental value of resources used in Scotland.
Applications must be submitted to ZWS by 3 October. Shortlisted applications will then be worked on between October and February 2017 with successful applications beginning a three-year Zero Waste Town project in April 2017. An applicant workshop will be held in Stirling on 8 September, featuring more information and presentations from the two existing Scottish projects in Dunbar and Bute.
Identifying models that can be used throughout Scotland
Zero Waste Dunbar is two years into a three-year funded project and has so far delivered a range of local initiatives to increase recycling in schools and households, support for business to become more resource efficient and is currently developing plans for a community reuse shop in the town centre.
Bute, meanwhile, gained Zero Waste Town status in September last year and has been working to increase the amount of materials that householders can recycling, piloting food waste collections, engaging with schools and supporting local businesses with resource efficiency measures.
The two are part of a growing network of Zero Waste communities throughout Europe, with others in Holland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Romania.
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “This is a really exciting project for Scotland as it looks to increase momentum with innovative new ideas to deliver a zero waste society.
“Ultimately, we are looking for new ideas and approaches on reducing waste and making better use of the things which we no longer need which will help us identify models that could be replicated in communities throughout Scotland.”
More information about the Zero Waste Towns programme can be found on the Zero Waste Scotland website.
