Glasgow is named worst in Scotland for recycling

james73 · Glasgow is named worst in Scotland for recycling

GLASGOW has been named the worst in Scotland for recycling household rubbish.

The roll of shame, produced by union bosses at GMB, claims just 8% of litter
is being recycled in the city.

That compares with 10 councils in England which have achieved recycling levels
of at least 30%.

Clackmannanshire is the recycling capital of Scotland where almost a third of
household rubbish was saved last year for re-use.

Across the country 631,159 tonnes of municipal waste - accounting for 18.3%
of Scotland's total waste - was recycled.

The Top Five are: Clackmannanshire Council with a recycle rate of 32.2%, East
Ayrshire - 28.3%, Moray -26%, Falkirk - 24.8% and West Dunbartonshire with
24.5%. Even South Lanarkshire is more efficient than Glasgow with a 22.2% rate.

But Glasgow City Council stresses that not only is Glasgow Scotland's biggest
city, it also has the country's largest amount of household rubbish.

James H

james73

Complete rubbish

GLASGOW is bottom of the pile in Scotland when it comes to recycling
household waste.

The city's dire record in disposing of its waste in an environmentally-friendly
manner has been highlighted in Scottish Government figures published today.

They show only 17.9% is recycled or composted - the lowest rate of any of
Scotland's 32 local authorities.

And the figures also reveal Glasgow dumped 300,415 tonnes last year in
landfill sites.

That was more than 100,000 tonnes higher than Edinburgh, which has the
second highest landfill total, although Glasgow has a much bigger population.

Scotland's Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead was meeting Glasgow
council leaders today for talks on how to improve the city's performance.

James H

james73

City in £135m move to improve recycling

PLANS have been unveiled for Glasgow to lead the way in recycling and become
one of Scotland's greenest cities by spending £135million on new technology.

Council waste bosses want to buy three cutting edge "autoclave" machines,
which are capable of recycling 80% of the city's waste within the next five
years.

If given the go-ahead by councillors, the system would be installed at
three existing waste plants, firstly at Polmadie, then Dawsholm and finally
Easter Queenslie.

The news comes just two days after Scottish Government figures showed
Glasgow City Council had the worst record in Scotland for recycling
household rubbish.

But Robert Booth, the council's executive land and environment director,
said today: "We believe Glasgow can be one of the greenest cities in Britain."

The new technology uses steam to sterilise and process the waste into
re-usable fibre that can be sold on.

If approved, a private company would work with the council to supply and run
the equipment, with the first machine due to be operational by autumn 2011.

By 2013, with all three machines up and running, they would be able to process
up to 450,000 tonnes of waste every year.

James H

Fjord

james73

Council defends £135m waste plan

RECYCLING bosses in Glasgow today defended their £135million plans for a
system they claim will make the city the greenest in Scotland.

Environmental campaigners had expressed concern over council plans for
an autoclave system, first unveiled in yesterday's Evening Times.

They said the steam system that pre-treats and processes waste into
organic material could cause pollution and use vast amounts of energy.

And Green MSP Patrick Harvie accused the authority of shirking its responsibility
to household recycling.

He added: "Glasgow's track record on reducing waste is among the worst
in Scotland, and the council cannot use this scheme as an excuse for their
continued failure to back household recycling.

"These autoclave systems are no magic bullet."

But council bosses believe the massive investment is the best means of
tackling the city's woeful recycling record, revealed on Tuesday as the
worst in Scotland with just 17.9% of waste reused. This system, they say,
will see that recycling figure rise to 80% by 2013.

James H