Scots are recycling greater than ever earlier than because the nation’s recycling fee hits an all-time excessive in information launched by Scotland’s surroundings watchdog, SEPA.

The Scottish Surroundings Safety Company (SEPA) revealed the Scottish Waste From All Sources 2022 Official Statistics on 26 March, which give particulars on waste from Scottish households, companies and public companies.

Scotland generated 10.16 million tonnes of waste, with 62.3% recycled – the very best recycling fee recorded because the begin of the present sequence in 2011.

This information displays the rise within the proportion of development and demolition waste, as the development trade rebounded following the pandemic.

Scots additionally continued to scale back their reliance on landfill – with 23.2% of all wastes ending up in landfill, for an all-time low determine of two.30 million tonnes.

Supporting the shift from landfill is the small however vital position performed by power from waste (incineration) services, which noticed an 8.3% enhance in Scottish waste being handled by incineration in 2022.

Vicki White, Head of Supplies at SEPA mentioned: “The truth that Scots are recycling greater than ever earlier than is nice information, with our highest recycling fee on file. The most recent information not solely exhibits we’re recycling extra and landfilling much less, but additionally that Scottish companies are persevering with to answer customers who’re persevering with to name for much less waste and higher useful resource effectivity.

“While its clear there’s extra to do, this newest information is each encouraging and a key milestone in our journey to a extra useful resource environment friendly, web zero economic system.”

A key to driving Scotland’s recycling efficiency is the development and demolition sector, which noticed an additional restoration from the pandemic within the newest SEPA information.

The sector has been boosted by innovation and funding by companies resembling Scottish specialist recycler Brewster Brothers. The corporate, based mostly in Livingston, gained the Scottish Authorities and SEPA backed Scottish Imaginative and prescient in Enterprise Awards Scotland (VIBES) Round Scotland Award in 2023.

The corporate, which takes development, demolition and excavation waste from the development sector and recycles it earlier than promoting it again to the development trade, has invested in new capability to satisfy market demand for top of the range recycled mixture merchandise with help from Scottish Enterprise’s Inexperienced Jobs Fund.

Scott Brewster, Managing Director of Brewster Brothers, mentioned:

“Scotland’s development sector recognises that recycling waste and re-using top quality recycled sand and gravel will not be solely the fitting factor to do environmentally and socially, however it is sensible economically too.

“A key to supporting Scotland’s development sector is trendy, environment friendly and efficient recycling infrastructure throughout Scotland. At Brewster Brother’s we’re dedicated to that journey, investing in Scottish infrastructure that has diverted over 1.3 million tonnes of waste from landfill and produced about one million tonnes of recycled aggregates thus far. It’s an actual Scottish success story that has loads of capability to develop additional, given over 1 / 4 of waste soils (excavation waste) nonetheless leads to landfill.”