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Granite City recycling rates on the rise

Residents in Aberdeen have been hailed for doing their bit to stop landfill waste after new statistics revealed recycling rates were on the rise.

The city produced 27,201 tonnes of waste in the second quarter of this year, April to June, and recycled 36.8% of it, with the rest being sent to landfill.

Figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) showed Aberdeen recycled more waste than their city council counterparts at Dundee (32.8%), Edinburgh (35.1%) and Glasgow (26.8%). Only Stirling (54.8%), which also boasts city status as a local authority, recycled more than the Granite City.

The latest set of Sepa figures coincide with a new method of collecting data with only household waste now used to measure progress towards the recycling targets. Last year the city achieved a recycling rate of 30% under the former method.

Peter Lawrence, Aberdeen City Council Waste and Recycling Manager, said: "The latest SEPA quarterly results show a year-on-year improvement in household waste recycling in the city as we continue to work towards achieving our target of 40% recycling and composting rates.

“Aberdeen City was one of the first authorities in Scotland to provide a food waste collection to all its wheeled bin-served households and has converted street-bin refuse containers to paper recycling in tenement and multi-occupancy areas.

"With over a half of households in Aberdeen in multi-occupancy properties, achieving high levels of recycling and composting remains a massive challenge and the increased cost of delivering these services has to be balanced against the severe financial constraints the council is currently facing.

“That said the relative improvement in our performance compared to other authorities shows that the citizens of Aberdeen are increasingly doing their bit to stop dumping our waste in landfills."

Housing and Environment Committee convener Councillor Aileen Malone said: “The new statistics shows we are making real progress in recycling and composting but much more needs to be done.

“It should be easy for everyone in Aberdeen to recycle key materials such as paper and card, plastic and metals like drinks cans, and it's important that we all make the best use possible of kerbside collection services and local recycling centres.

"Recycling conserves precious resources, saves energy, helps the environment and reduces landfill.”

Environment Minister Richard Lochhead said: "Today's recycling statistics are a credit to Scottish households and local authorities and they should be proud of their efforts.”

Councillor Alison Hay, Cosla spokeswoman for regeneration and sustainable development, said: "Councils are leading the zero waste agenda and continually improving services to make it simple for householders to recycle more materials."

Across the country from April to June 719,204 tonnes of household waste was created, of which 313,258 tonnes were recycled or composted.

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