Now is your chance to make your views heard about your rubbish and how it affects the environment. The Fife Area Waste Group have published their Waste Issues Paper which is intended to stimulate discussion about the future direction of rubbish management in the Kingdom and outlines six possible options.

Anybody living or working in Fife who has an interest in the way rubbish is produced, treated, recycled and disposed of and wishes their views to be considered should take this opportunity to comment.

The paper doesn’t provide definitive solutions to dealing with Fife’s waste problems nor does it seek to provide detailed technical or financial information on the options available. However, what the paper does do is outline those options which would be possible for Fife.

Jim Good, co-chair of Fife Waste Strategy Area Group and Team Leader at SEPA’s Fife Office said: “This is a public consultation document and we want and need local people to respond. Excellent partnership working and the information gathered from local groups and individuals is crucial to enable us to make decisions on the best option for rubbish. I urge people if possible to attend one of our public consultation evenings or to complete the questionnaire contained within the document and return it to us.”

Fife Council’s Planning and Environment spokesperson Councillor Bill Kay said: “The new European Landfill Directive makes it very clear that we will not be able to get rid of the same amount of waste by burying it in the ground as we have done in the past. The new rules will therefore have a major effect on the way we deal with waste in Fife and we have to seriously consider some environmentally friendly alternatives.

“This is one reason for producing the Waste Issues Paper - we hope as many people as possible will take the opportunity to comment on the waste disposal options highlighted. Each household in Fife currently produces over one tonne of waste each year and over 95 per cent of waste currently collected by the council goes into landfill. In 1998, nearly 30 per cent of the 1.5 million tonnes of waste was reused or recycled in some way. We have to build on that figure and work on ways of recycling particularly household waste more effectively.”

Public consultations in Fife will take place as below:

Monday 20 August 7.30 - 9.00pm Dell Farquharson Community Centre, Dunfermline

Thursday 23 August 7.30 - 9.00pm Corn Exchange, Cupar

Monday 27 August 7.30 - 9.00pm Rothes Halls (Room 10), Glenrothes

The evenings will take the form of a short presentation with question and answer session. Members of the Fife Waste Strategy Area Group will be available for informal discussion.

Options up for debate in the Area Waste Plan include:

· Separate council collection of green and recyclable household waste once a fortnight.

· More use of composting and waste paper recycling.

· Use of small combined heat and power plants to generate heat and power locally.

· A charging system for some bulky uplifts.

· More awareness raising of recycling options and the environmental consequences of continuing the status quo.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

• Copies of the Fife Waste Issues Paper are available from SEPA Glenrothes Office on 01592 776910 and from council offices and libraries. A copy of the document can also be downloaded from the SEPA website: www.sepa.org.uk
  
  
• John Harris, SEPA Area Waste Strategy Co-ordinator for Fife, is available for interview. Please contact Louise Fyfe, SEPA Regional Public Relations Officer, on 0131 449 7296 or the out of hours public relations pager on 07644 071918.
  
  
• Fife Councillor Bill Kay is available for interview. Please contact Susie Cairney in Fife Council Press Office on 01592 413383 to arrange.
  
  
• SEPA has a duty under the Environment Act 1995 to produce a national waste strategy for Scotland that will be developed through the implementation of 11 Area Waste Plans for the whole of Scotland. These aim to show how waste will be dealt with for the next 20 years and will ensure that Scotland meets the requirements of a variety of EU directives. The plans aim to reduce the volume and hazard of waste, increase recycling and re-use, and reduce the dependence on landfill. This should reduce environmental impacts whilst creating new jobs, better use of resources and a cleaner local environment.
  
  
• In Scotland we are heavily reliant on the landfilling (tipping into holes) of waste. Household recycling levels were 5 per cent in 2000, putting us at the bottom of the European league of recycling.
  
  
• The Fife Waste Strategy Area Group is a partnership between SEPA, Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise Fife, Green Business Fife.