The 2022 recycling figures are disappointing but have been stagnating for around a decade. More disappointing given the sums of money which have been given to local authorities since 2001. So why has there been no improvement? The answer relies on an unhappy coalescence of factors as follows but can be summarised as an absence of strategic leadership and direction.
- Money 💲
The additional sums given to Local Governments since 2001 should have been sufficient to have a comprehensive recycling system in place with the necessary infrastructure together with constant improvement. However, the reality is different. The Scottish Government admitted that recycling levels stagnated from 2011 on. This notwithstanding the fact that the Strategic Waste Fund ran from 2001-2020 and a further £80M was injected by the Zero Waste Fund from 2008-11. SWF (Scottish Waste Fund) grants to Local Governments ran from 2001-2007 culminating in the disbursement of around £67M annually. The funds were then incorporated into Local Authority base budgets in 2007/8 when the SNP (Scottish National Party) won the election. The Scottish Government also removed ring-fencing so that Councils were free to spend the money on whatever they liked. By the Scottish Governments’ own admission, Local Governments received (2008-2022) £1.083B of additional funding. However, there was no real oversight of spend. Into the new decade and local authorities in an effort to save money introduced charging for green waste (some of these services were funded in full by the SWF) and bulky collections, and reduced frequency of collections together in some cases with reduced volumes for residual waste.
2. Intervention 🦺
For two decades the waste industry and local authority waste managers have implored legislators to intervene uniformly across Scotland, to no avail. This should have been to give powers to Local Governments to require recycling and to ensure they enforced it and to require local authorities to have real and meaningful behavioural change plans.
3. Strategy 
Although Scotland has a rich tradition of writing strategies. We also have a fine tradition of not implementing them or before the ink is dry writing a new one. There is no better example than waste.
Several strands are important here: The Draft Waste Strategy 1998 contained list of the likely infrastructure the country would need and their locations. This was removed in the final document. Between 2004-6 the Scottish Executive implemented a Strategic review of infrastructure needs. However, barring two PFI (Private Finance Incentives) projects (Argyll & Bute and Dumfries & Galloway) and an anaerobic digestor in Stornoway nothing came of it. Thus, Infrastructure delivery was left to individual local authorities which inevitably produced a patchwork of facilities, with needless and costly duplication of effort with different operators who may or may not cooperate. In an attempt to introduce a strategic element to the scene the Scottish Government introduced an opportunity around 2014 for Local Authorities to take part in a coordinated procurement. However, the horse had bolted, and few Local Authorities took part. Interestingly the idea of a consortium was first mooted in 2001 by Cosla.
- Leadership 🌍
Two issues are striking. Firstly, the lead civil servant for waste has on taking on the brief, no understanding, experience or knowledge of the subject. Moreover, they do not know in detail what has gone before and know they only have two or three years in which to make their mark or perhaps more pertinently their Minister’s mark. Since 2000 there have been at least nine lead officers! Secondly, until around 2010 there was a close link between Cosla and the Scottish Government politically and at officer level in waste. The lead councillor for Scotland would meet with the Cabinet Secretary from time to time. The Councillor would be accompanied by a local government officer and the Cabinet Secretary by the lead civil servant.
- Summary ♻
Given the foregoing it is hardly surprising that after the initial flourish of the strategic waste fund faded Councils chose not to spend on waste and were allowed to do so. The squeeze on budgets has been relentless with the emphasis on saving money rather than increasing recycling. The Scottish Government for its part, ignored advice over years only to then adopt it too late with predictable results. But perhaps the most damning reason for the absence of progress is the absence of strategy and leadership from the centre.
Colin Clark
November 2023