This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Major cash boost for waste management
03/02/2003
Almost £110 million from the Strategic Waste Fund has been earmarked for eight councils to radically improve recycling and waste management.
Bids from a Forth Valley group, consisting of Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Falkirk Councils, and from Aberdeenshire, East Renfrewshire, West Lothian, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire have been accepted.
Established by the Executive, the Strategic Waste Fund was specifically set up to implement the National Waste Strategy: Scotland.
The National Waste Strategy, adopted by the Executive in 1999, sets the framework for changing the way waste is handled in Scotland; increasing recycling and recovery and reducing our reliance on landfill.
Environment and Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie said:
"The Scottish Executive is committed to improving quality of life, delivering environmental justice and securing sustainable development. This first major tranche of funding from the Strategic Waste Fund will make a significant contribution in taking these commitments forward.
"By providing funds to help councils put the Area Waste Plans into practice, we are ensuring the delivery of our targets for waste minimisation, recycling and the reduction in landfill.
"We will shortly be announcing Scotland's first National Waste Plan. This funding demonstrates the work to deliver that plan is already well under way.
"It is time that Scotland began to show what we can do in recycling. The local authorities receiving funding today expect to achieve recycling rates of around 30% by 2006.
"I hope soon to see more councils funded in this way, contributing to the Executive's target of recycling and composting 25% of municipal waste by 2006.
"The plans we are now funding have been drawn up in partnership with local communities, neighbouring councils and the not-for profit sector. This substantial funding will support urgent action to bring about real improvements in these communities.
"The not-for-profit sector has an important role to play in delivering community-based recycling and other sustainable waste projects. We are keen to see that role retained and enhanced. The new interim scheme we are announcing today will support organisations whose work complements our National Waste Strategy and who were previously funded through landfill tax credits.
"The local authority funding will be used by councils to implement improved segregated kerbside collection systems and composting as well as to fund public awareness campaigns to highlight the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling household waste."
Set up under The Financial Assistance for the Environmental Purposes (Scotland) Order 2000 (S.S.I. 2000/430), the Strategic Waste Fund will provide £16 million for local authorities in 2002/03, £30.2 million for 2003/4, £90.2 million, for 2004/5 and £111.7 million for 2005/6.
The Executive has already allocated £6 million between all councils this financial year for initiatives to increase recycling.
Additional funding through a new scheme will be available to voluntary organisations currently carrying out recycling projects and other bodies receiving funding for waste projects from the current tax credit scheme.
Eleven Area Waste Plans have been prepared by groups involving local government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), industry and community organisations to establish the Best Practicable Environmental Option for Waste in each Area.
The Forth Valley group and Aberdeenshire Council have had their complete bids approved for funding to 2020. The total amount awarded to these councils over 17 years is £107 million.
A total of £45 million is being awarded to the Forth Valley group, £31.3 million to Stirling, £5.7 million to Clackmannanshire, and £8 million to Falkirk over the next 17 years.
A total of £62 million is being awarded to Aberdeenshire over the next 17 years. This will enable the council to implement its plan to manage the municipal solid waste generated in Aberdeenshire.
A total of £2,442,300 is being awarded in the present financial year to four other councils whose bids have been approved 'in principle'. They are: North Lanarkshire; South Lanarkshire; East Renfrewshire; and West Lothian councils. This enables them to start implementing their plans while the Executive continues to assess certain longer-term aspects of their bids.
The allocation of funds this financial year to the councils is as follows:
- Aberdeenshire Council has been awarded £700,000 to undertake improvements to current composting facilities, build additional municipal refuse collection banks and start an education and information programme.
- Stirling Council has been awarded £167,000 to start the staged implementation of its composting scheme.
- Clackmannanshire Council has been awarded £105,000 to upgrade its Civic Amenity Sites and to provide extra staffing as well as to undertake improvements in their composting facilities.
- Falkirk Council has been awarded £35,000 to undertake improvements in its composting facilities with an additional £70,000 being awarded to Falkirk Council, on behalf of the Forth Valley group, for a joint education and awareness programme.
- West Lothian Council has been awarded £1,286,650 to purchase new wheeled bins for separate household collection of materials for recycling and composting and to set up a telephone hotline to support the introduction of these new services. The Council will also undertake work on improvements to civic amenity sites and an education and awareness programme.
- North Lanarkshire has been awarded £355,650 to start the staged implementation of a kerbside collection scheme for recycled materials.
- South Lanarkshire has been awarded £380,000 to develop land for a new Recycling Facility.
- East Renfrewshire has been awarded £420,000 to purchase two new recycling collection vehicles, new recycling bins and to upgrade a civic amenity site.
Interim replacement for the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme:
The interim public spending scheme to provide continued funding for projects previously receiving Landfill Tax Credits will be funded from part of the funds which the Executive will receive from the £100m per annum announced in the Chancellor's pre-budget report in November 2002. This money will be allocated to expenditure on the National Waste Strategy: Scotland. Details of the mechanism for distributing these funds will be announced in due course.
Interim arrangements to fund existing sustainable waste management projects (category C and CC) in Scotland will be made from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004. Funding will be subject to any constraints resulting from EU state aid rules. Eligibility criteria to determine projects which may be suitable for support will also include the following:
- Eligible projects must fall into category C or CC (covering research, development, education or information about sustainable waste management or research, development, education or information about market development for recycled waste) of the LTCS.
- Projects must have been registered with the LTCS regulator, ENTRUST, by February 3, 2003.
- Project operators must be covered by a written funding agreement for work being carried out on the project from either a landfill operator or a Distributive Environmental Body by February 3, 2003.
- This formal funding agreement must make clear that funding would have been expected to have continued to be made available from tax credits after March 31, 2003.
- Projects must have a shortfall in funding during 2003-04 beyond that which has been committed through the written agreement with a Distributive Environmental Body or landfill operator.
- The project operator must have been expecting to have received further funding through landfill tax credits in the period 2003-04 in order to contribute or complete the project within that period, as set out in the project's plans.
- Projects must be based in Scotland or directly benefiting Scotland.
- Projects should demonstrate that they are contributing to the objectives of the National Waste Strategy and, for localised projects, should be endorsed by the relevant Waste Strategy Area Group.
- Project operators will be required to make any research findings or best practice publicly available.
The Executive intends to arrange that ENTRUST, in collaboration with the Scottish Landfill Tax Credit Forum (SLTCF), will co-ordinate applications for support from Environmental Bodies and Distributive Environmental Bodies to the interim public spending scheme as well as monitoring progress and expenditure.
The Executive also intends to establish an advisory panel to help assess projects seeking funding from the interim scheme.
Application enquiries should be directed to:
ENTRUST Northern Area office
Tel: 0141 561 0390
Fax: 0141 561 0328
email: jimgraham@entrust.org.uk
www.entrust.org.uk