Environmental campaigners have warned Lorna Slater that her blueprint for reducing waste lacks the “required urgency or the systematic approach needed” amid concern that targets are being missed.
The Scottish Government has published is waste route map consultation which ministers hope will increase reuse and recycling and cut waste as part of a circular economy strategy.
The route map sets out a plan for new, national reuse and recycling targets along with priority actions needed between now and the end of the decade to help drive Scotland’s transition to a circular economy.
The actions will run alongside provisions in the draft Circular Economy Bill which is currently at stage 1 at Holyrood and include proposals for the creation of local recycling targets – despite criticisms over the legislation’s scrutiny, unclear costs and MSPs being unable to amend the law which is being brought in as secondary legislation.
Read more: Lorna Slater legislating 'by the back door' amid climate law fears
In the routemap, Scottish Government officials warn that “is highly likely we will fall short” in meeting a target to reduce food waste by 33% from 2013 by 2025.
The document adds: “The latest data shows the scale of the problem has increased in Scotland over the past decade.”
There is further concerns about a commitment to send less than 5% of Scotland’s waste to landfill by 2025.
The route map states: “Despite a significant reduction in the waste landfilled, achieving our target to send a maximum of 5% of waste to landfill target by 2025 represents a significant challenge.
“Much of the remaining material we landfill has a low carbon impact when landfilled or cannot easily be recycled or disposed of by other means and, therefore, achieving our 5% target does not fully align with our emissions reduction commitments or other environmental ambitions in the long term.”
Campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to take a more systemic approach to reduce waste.
Read more: Warning SNP's key waste targets off track
The Scottish Government has acknowledged that it has “fallen short” of its current 2025 recycling targets, which are expected to be mostly missed but activists have warned that more action is needed than pushing deadlines back to 2030.
Kim Pratt, circular economy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It’s encouraging to see that the Scottish Government recognises the role that our unsustainable levels of consumption plays in the climate crisis but this must be matched by a desire to tackle it.
“The waste route map does not contain the required urgency or the systematic approach needed to reduce the way we use materials, risking another Scottish Government failure, just as it is failing to meet its 2025 recycling targets.”
She added: “What we need to see to make this happen is the introduction of targets to reduce consumption with credible plans to achieve them, so that changes are made on the basis of the impact they will have in reducing Scotland’s carbon footprint.
“If planned for properly, this will also create new green jobs in Scotland and make existing jobs more sustainable.
Read more: Analysis: Scotland's recycling aims will be trashed without proper planning
“Creating a circular economy presents an enormous opportunity for Scotland to confront the impact we’re having on the planet. It will only create the change we need if the Scottish Government acts with more ambition and more urgency.”
Ms Slater, the Green Circular Economy Minister, said: “We have already made good progress across Scotland, significantly reducing the amount of waste we generate and landfill, but we need to go further if reusing and recycling goods is to become the default choice for households, businesses and the public sector.
“For people to do the right thing for the planet, it is crucial that everyone experiences a modern, easy to use waste service.
“This second consultation sets out our priority actions and the tools we will put in place to help everyone play their part in cutting waste and capitalising on the economic opportunities that a circular economy presents to businesses. I urge everyone to take part.”
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