WIREDGOV

Funding of £3.5 million to increase recycling rates in local communities across Scotland was announced today.

Projects supported through the latest round of community re-use and recycling funding under the 'INCREASE III' programme include:

• Developing facilities for testing, repairing and refurbishing second hand furniture and white goods and distributing to local housing associations
• Collecting non-hazardous paint products to reprocess and distribute through sales and donations
• Providing food waste collections from businesses, allowing the waste to be composted
• Gathering waste wood from businesses and domestic households and selling recycled products

Visiting the Bike Station in Edinburgh, which has received £133,000 to develop its 'Recycle to Cycle' project diverting old bike parts from landfill and transforming them into new cycles, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:

"Dealing with waste sustainably is crucial to the future of Scotland and the future of the planet. The community sector continues to play an invaluable role in helping us meet our ambitious targets of recycling 70 per cent of municipal waste by 2025.

"This which is why the Scottish Government is today allocating £3.5 million to community led projects. I welcome these innovative solutions put forward by communities which are pushing back the boundaries in preventing and reducing waste.

"Everyone must play their part in reducing waste, and only by all working together in this way will we be able to achieve a Zero Waste Scotland."

Iain Gulland, WRAP Director for Scotland, said:

"I am pleased to see so many excellent projects coming forward from the community recycling sector for this funding. The enterprise projects in particular demonstrate the business-minded approach the sector is taking, seeing this funding as an investment in their future.

"Community recycling providing a robust business model which builds a solid future in terms of local jobs and environmental sustainability is a key part in delivering a Zero Waste Scotland".

A total of £7.5 million is available over the three-year 'Increase' scheme. Funding of £3.5 million has today been awarded to support 26 projects in Scotland.

Read more about the projects that will receive funding

The support for community recycling has four strands: grants for waste prevention; enterprise (recycling); small grants (under £5000) and capacity building.

'INCREASE III' (Investment in Community Recycling and Social Enterprise) funding is distributed through Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Scotland. This is funded by the Scottish Government to undertake a range of programmes to help individuals, businesses and local authorities reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.

The Bike Store runs a bicycle recycling project, to help reduce waste to landfill. In 2007, 3,300 bikes were donated to the scheme diverting a total of 50 tonnes of waste. More than 60 per cent of bikes donated were reconditioned and put back on the road, providing affordable quality bikes to encourage sustainable travel.

The Scottish Government's recycling targets are as follows:

Percentage of municipal waste being recycled or composted:

• by 2010 - 40 per cent
• 2013 - 50 per cent
• 2020 - 60 per cent
• 2025 - 70 per cent

Percentage of municipal waste used for energy:

• by 2010 - 4 per cent
• 2013 - 14 per cent
• 2020 - 25 per cent
• 2025 - 25 per cent

Percentage of municipal waste going to landfill:

• 2010 - 56 per cent
• 2013 - 36 per cent
• 2020 - 15 per cent
• 2025 - 5 per cent

Related Links

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Waste/recycle-fund