Recycling and composting targets

The Scottish Government has set annual target rates for the recycling and composting of municipal waste.  These targets are based on calendar year data and apply to Scotland as a whole, not to individual local authorities.  The targets were revised in January 2008:

Calender year Recycling and
composting target rates
2006 25%
2008 30%
2010 40%
2013 50%
2020 60%
2025 70%

The 2006 target rate was met and the 2008 target rate has been achieved ahead of time.  Details on the quarterly and annual rates for individual local authorities and for Scotland are available here:

In calculating the quarterly and annual recycling and composting rates, SEPA uses the definition of collected municipal waste as specified in the Scottish Government Landfill Allowance Scheme guidance.  A link to this guidance is provided opposite.

The data used for calculating the rates are those submitted quarterly to WasteDataFlow by Scottish local authorities.  Prior to April 2006, the data were obtained from SEPA’s annual Local Authority Waste Arisings Survey.