Recycle Week 2023

By Iain Gulland , Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland

Recycling has a key place in Scotland’s circular economy vision, says Iain Gulland  

Recycling is a fantastic force for good. It’s perhaps the easiest thing that everyone in Scotland can do to maximise the value of goods and materials by giving them another life. 

It has become second nature to many of us. Much like taking a reusable bag to the shops, popping our empties in the recycling bin at home is now very much the done thing. That’s more than welcome when we think about the bigger picture of climate change, and how important it is that we all do everything in our power to tackle it. 

Recycle Week 2023 

Recycle Week (16th to 22nd October) is an ideal opportunity to recognise the importance of recycling and celebrate its success. After all, there are multiple environmental and economic benefits to recycling as much as we can. 

For example, more recycled material available for manufacturing offsets the demand for virgin raw materials to make new products. This helps protect the natural environment and bypasses the climate emissions associated with mining and extraction, while helping brands respond to consumer demand for more sustainable options. 

What’s more, a high recycling rate means less materials going to landfill and incineration. Both of these have carbon impacts – especially the incineration of plastics. 

There are also clear financial benefits through increased recycling from lower waste costs for local authorities if less material has to be disposed of, plus the obvious economic gain from increased reprocessing and remanufacturing capacity creating more business opportunities and local jobs.   

It’s also a Scottish Government priority, with a £70m Recycling Improvement Fund in place to fund improvements to our recycling infrastructure; while key legislation is also in train via the Circular Economy Bill and forthcoming Circular Economy Route Map which will make it even easier for citizens and businesses to make the right choice when it comes to keeping resources in use for as long as possible.  

Scotland’s recycling challenge 

Yet when we look at the data currently available to us, as well as the fantastic opportunities coming down the line, we can see that when it comes to recycling we could all do more.  

Major new Zero Waste Scotland research published this week shows 52% of what’s in the average household general waste bin could have been recycled.  

These aren’t things that you’d need to take anywhere to recycle either – it’s stuff that could have been recycled using existing kerbside services such as food, plastic bottles and aluminium cans. 

These are worrying findings that we have to turn around if we’re serious about preventing further unnecessary carbon emissions. 

If we were to recycle the stuff that could already be recycled we would be saving an additional 500,000 tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to 64,000 flights around the world. That such a small change could have such an enormous impact should inspire us all to act.  

Evolving our throwaway culture into a circular economy in which products are valued and made to last is the best chance we have for a sustainable future – and it’s within our power as individuals, communities, and as a nation, to achieve it. 

Anyone keen to do just that need look no further than our Recycling Sorter Tool, which tells you what goes in which bin no matter what part of Scotland you’re in. If you want to make a difference to the planet, where better to start than from your own home. 

More information about the link between our purchasing decisions and climate change, and what we can all do about it, is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website.