Foreword by Scottish Executive

Currently almost all of Scotland’s household waste goes to landfill. This has been a cheap and – for most of us – convenient way of putting waste out of sight and out of mind. But disposing of unsorted refuse in this way is quite literally a waste of the world’s resources. It is also a potent source of greenhouse gases and other emissions to the environment with waste management (mainly from landfills) contributing almost a quarter of the total amount of methane emitted in Scotland each year.

Moving to a position where we produce less waste, reuse and recycle more and recover value from as much as possible of what is left is at the heart of the Scottish Executive’s approach to sustainable development. Nationally, we have set a target of recycling or composting 25% of Scotland’s waste by 2006, but we aim to move beyond that to achieve higher levels of recycling and composting and minimise our use of landfill. These are goals which are wholeheartedly supported by the Scottish people. Over two-thirds of people were worried or very worried about waste-management issues in the recent Executive survey of public attitudes on the environment. Many already support recycling and composting initiatives by local authorities and the community sector. Opinion surveys show that more than 80% of people would participate in kerbside recycling if the necessary facilities were in place.

The change cannot be achieved overnight. It will need investment in new services and new facilities and in the development of markets for recycled materials. The Executive has allocated more than £230m over the next 3 years for these purposes. The change also needs to be a change of culture so that sorting our waste becomes a part of daily life for all of us, and, crucially, it must be based on thorough planning taking full account of local circumstances.

The preparation of this Area Waste Plan for The North East along with 10 other area plans and the National Waste Plan, has been the essential first step on the path to change. The Plan is the product of intensive work by Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray Councils, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Enterprise Grampian Scottish Enterprise Moray Badenoch & Strathspey to identify the best practicable environmental option for waste management in the North East. Its completion is a testament to the potential of partnership working across local authority, organisational and sectoral boundaries and all participants deserve credit for the parts they have played. The exercise has also generated extremely high interest amongst the general public in waste issues, partly as a result of the area groups organising many local meetings, exhibitions, leaflets and consultations.

The programme of change set out in this plan and its counterparts is a challenging one. However, it is one that, by building on the partnerships that have been established at national and local level by the waste-planning process, we can and must achieve.

Ross Finnie
Minister for Environment and Rural Development