According to the ambitious new Zero Waste Plan, which was published yesterday, businesses like restaurants and supermarkets, as well as councils will have to separately dispose of all food waste in three years time.
The Scottish Government, which is quickly moving towards its ‘zero waste Scotland’ campaign, hopes mandatory charges for rubbish collections will help to reduce amounts of waste sent out to landfill sites. The SNP is aiming for the sorted food waste to be sent to green power plants with anaerobic digestion technology, where the organic matter can be converted into energy and fertiliser.
Environmentalists have welcomed the scheme, but it is still likely to meet with opposition as householders and industry are already feeling the weight of several separate bins in which they are required to sort their rubbish. Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead, said an estimate of 2.1 million tonnes in food waste are generated in Scotland every year.
Mr Lochhead added that even capturing half of that amount with anaerobic digestion facilities would greatly reduce Scotland’s carbon emissions. He added that the rubbish would generate enough electricity to feed a city comparable to Dundee with power for six months.
The changes will require households across the nation to use one more collection box to separate out food waste prior to pick-up by the local council. Growing concerns are being voiced regarding how the scheme will receive funding. The Zero Waste Plan, which has taken two years to come into being, requires that Scotland only send five per cent of all its waste to landfill by 2025.
|
|
