Scottish businesses encouraged to prepare for recycling regulation changes
Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - 11:03:07
At the start of next year businesses in Scotland will face the prospect of new laws which come into force and require that all the plastic, metal, glass, paper and food waste is properly recycled.
If they do not live up to the incoming standards, companies will face big fines from local authorities, so the Zero Waste Scotland campaign has been introduced to help prepare companies for the changes.
The government of Scotland has set a target of recycling 70 per cent of the nation's wastes by 2025 and there is a very good economic reason to go the recycling route rather than simply sending rubbish to landfill.
Current estimates suggest that councils spend about 95 million in taxes in order to ship materials which could be recycled to landfill sites. In reality this recyclable waste is actually worth 97 million, so a major loss is being made.
Recycling need not be difficult or time consuming and this is what the Zero Waste Scotland project is trying to highlight. A number of examples of businesses already acting responsibly are used, including an Aberdeen pub which uses a worm farm to dispose of waste food, allowing it to achieve a recycling rate of 95 per cent, according to BBC News.
Scheme spokesperson Iain Gulland said that a number of Scottish businesses have already begun to adapt ahead of the rule changes, although it is still necessary to encourage other organisations to prepare ahead of January 2014.
The scheme will offer advice and support for companies looking to change their ways and increase recycling rates and this should lead to a greener and more environmentally sustainable private sector.
Businesses play a major part in contributing waste to landfill so by targeting them with regulation changes, governments can make a big difference.
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