Scottish Government
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Flanders 'an excellent example'
The Belgian region of Flanders has been highlighted as an excellent example of how to deal with waste by Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead.
Mr Lochhead is currently in Belgium for the latest Agriculture and Fisheries Council and will visit the city of Ghent today to see for himself how Scotland could learn from the Flemish experience.
He said:
"The Scottish Government wants to see Scotland become a zero waste society but in order to do that, I am keen to ensure that we look closely at how other countries deal with their waste.
"The record of Flanders in waste management speaks for itself. They have a recycling rate of 70 per cent, excellent waste prevention plans and a strong network of centres to ensure goods can be re-used.
"My plans for the day including meeting the Flemish Environment Minister Hilde Crevits and her officials, plus visits to organisations dealing with paper recycling, electronic goods and anaerobic digestion.
"We are looking across Europe and beyond for good examples of preventing waste, increasing recycling and reusing materials as we formulate the review of the National Waste Plan.
"Today's visit will help inform our future waste policy and how we can move towards a Zero Waste Scotland."
e Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) require in Article 29 the drawing up of a waste prevention programme
3. Zero Waste can be defined as 'eliminating the unnecessary use of raw materials; re-using products where possible and recovering value from products when they reach the end of their lives either through recycling, composting or energy recovery, in accordance with the waste hierarchy.'
4. Information on Flemish waste policy can be found through their waste management agency (OVAM) here: http://www.ovam.be/jahia/Jahia/pid/973?lang=en. The Scottish Government has also conducted a study on into international recycling policies, including a section on Flanders: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/15131919/12.
Related Information
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/waste-and-pollution/Waste-1
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