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Foreword by Orkney and Shetland Waste
Strategy Group Chair
I am very pleased to present the first ever Orkney
and Shetland Area Waste Plan (AWP). The two independent Orkney and Shetland
Waste Strategy Area Groups have been working hard since early 2000 to
prepare a long-term, integrated plan for the management of waste in the
area. In each island group this process has been carried out in consultation
with a range of stakeholders, including individual members of the public,
community organisations, voluntary groups and industry representatives.
I would like to thank everyone involved for their constructive comments.
Orkney and Shetland are unlike mainland Scotland in many
ways, not least in terms of the unusually high costs and logistical
complexities associated with managing waste in such a remote area. The
indigenous industries - crofting, fishing, fish-production and processing,
agriculture, and the oil and gas sector - are highly sensitive to external
economic pressures, and it is vital that this and future plans support
rather than threaten their future stability.
The Orkney and Shetland area already has one of Scotland's
strongest track records in sustainable waste management. However, this
Plan proposes further improvements that will address potential growth
in waste arisings, and substantially increase the level of waste recovered
and recycled. The measures proposed will reduce the quantity of household
and commercial waste disposed of to landfill sites, and increase the
quantity that is collected for recycling. This represents a sustainable
future for the people of Orkney and Shetland, and will make an important
contribution to the objectives of the National Waste Strategy: Scotland
in years to come.
This Plan will not work without a programme of concerted
action - now and in years to come. Annex 2 describes a detailed Action
Plan that will form the principal mechanism to ensure the Plan is effectively
implemented.
This document provides a framework for the next
20 years. It has been integrated with Scotland's ten other AWPs to provide
a National Waste Plan for Scotland. For all these plans to work, and
work they must, we have to ensure that the strategic direction proposed
is sensible and workable. There is no option other than to change the
way we deal with our waste. I would encourage everyone in Orkney and
Shetland to play an active part.
Tom Anderson
Chair, Orkney and Shetland Waste Strategy Area Groups
Foreword by Scottish Executive
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