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Indicator 5. Waste: recycling
Percentage of total household waste recycled
Year | 1999-2000 | 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 |
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Percentage of total household waste recycled | 5.1% | 6.1% | 8.0% | 10.1% | 12.9% |
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Source: Accounts Commission for Scotland
Year | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 |
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Percentage of municipal waste recycled. | 7.4% | 9.6% | 12.3% |
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Source: Accounts Commission for Scotland
The relevance of the indicator
Increasing recycling of materials is part of our strategy to improve resource efficiency - doing more with less.
Choice of Indicator
No common indicator is used internationally to measure recycling of household waste. In some countries the measure relates to municipal waste, in others construction waste is included. In Scotland this indicator is based on estimates of household waste provided by local authorities. In line with European and domestic targets estimates of municipal waste recycling are also recorded for 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Detailed definition and source details
The indicator is defined as the percentage of household waste, collected by or on behalf of councils, that is composted or recycled. It excludes both commercial and industrial waste that is recycled and household waste that is composted by households. Councils obtain waste material for recycling in three ways - through collections at recycling points ( e.g. bottle banks, paper banks), by separate house-to-house collection of recyclable materials or by separating waste after collection. The Accounts Commission sets out how local authorities should measure indicators in formal instructions each year 1.
Trends
In 2002-2003, 10.1% of household waste was recycled, which is a slight improvement on the previous year. A further 2.2% of household waste, representing a similar tonnage as the previous year, was used for the recovery of heat, power or other energy sources .
Further disaggregation
Percentage of total household waste recycled in rural and urban councils
Source: Accounts Commission for Scotland
In previous years, rural councils have generally recycled more household waste than urban councils, but in 2003-2004, 13.2% of household waste in urban councils was recycled compared with 12.3% of household waste in rural councils. Twenty three councils reported recycling more than 10% of household waste (six more than the previous year). (See the Annex for allocation of council areas to urban and rural.)
Target
To recycle or compost 25% of municipal waste by 2006.
Action
Ministers have taken powers to set targets in the Local Government in Scotland Act and to require local authorities to prepare Integrated Waste Management Plans to meet the targets. Local authorities will be required to produce integrated waste management plans by February 2007. We have established a Strategic Waste Fund to assist local authorities in implementing Area Waste Plans under the National Waste Strategy. This has provided local authorities with £335m up to 2007/08.
The Scottish Waste Awareness Group, for which we provide support, is implementing the Waste Aware Scotland campaign for use by local authorities as improved recycling facilities are introduced. This ensures that local information on how to recycle is provided at the same time as infrastructure is rolled out. The Scottish Executive's Do a little, change a lot environmental awareness campaign 2 also raised awareness of waste as an issue.
Footnotes1 Accounts Commission for Scotland (2004): Performance Indicators 2002/2003 - "Environmental and regulatory services: comparing the performance of Scottish Councils" - http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/performance/documents/Pamphlets/04pi04ac.pdf
2 The campaign website can be found at: www.dochange.net
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