| The Scottish Executive is providing £764,000 through the Retail Innovation Fund as an incentive for retailers to reduce waste by redesigning their packaging — but the MSP believes it’s time for the Executive to adopt a “zero waste” policy.
Around 12 million tonnes of household rubbish are produced annually from supermarket and fast food packaging in the UK and this accounts for over 40% of all the household waste being deposited in landfill sites.
The Executive’s scheme, part of an £8 million UK-wide programme, will be launched by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and was launched by deputy environment minister Lewis McDonald today.
WRAP promotes recycling and resource efficiency across Great Britain and is funded by the Executive, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland.
He said, “The Retail Innovation Fund provides an opportunity for Scottish companies to research and design new ways to minimise waste in packaging and product design.
“The Executive has already pledged to invest £350 million over the next three years through the Strategic Waste Fund to improve recycling facilities in local authority areas.
“But this is only one aspect of a three-pronged approach. As well as promoting recycling, we aim to encourage people to reduce the amount of waste produced and to re-use whatever they can.
“The £764,000 being provided by the Scottish Executive through this scheme will help us rise to this challenge.”
Eddie Thompson, the Dundee-based chairman of the Scottish Retail Consortium, has given his organisation’s backing to the scheme. “The SRC fully supports the launch of the Innovation Fund and encourages applications from all those involved in packaging design for the retail sector,” he said.
“We hope the retail sector will take advantage of the fund to make major advances in the retail arena while benefiting the environment.”
Under current regulations, businesses that produce over 50 tonnes of packaging per year are required to recycle or recover some of their waste.
Currently, the targets for waste recovery are only 50%, although this will rise to 70% from December 31, 2008.
Today, Shiona Baird, said while she welcomed the Executive’s adoption of Green policies, she believed there was still much more to be done.
“I am heartened to see the Executive putting resources into reducing waste at source,” she said. “We need to see many more initiatives like this, across all sectors.
“But this scheme should be part of a co-ordinated national approach to make more efficient use of resources and eliminate waste.
“Once again, I call on the Scottish Executive to show vision and leadership and adopt a zero waste policy for Scotland.” |
