The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has exceeded its targets for reducing waste and improved its levels of recycling according to its annual sustainability report for 2014-15.

SEPA has set a long-term goal of working towards the national 2025 zero waste target, when no more than five per cent of all waste may be disposed of at landfill. As part of this, it seeks to maintain levels of recycling or reuse above 65 per cent.

The report states that in 2014-15, SEPA recycled 75 per cent of its waste, a three percentage point improvement on the previous year, with 90 per cent of waste being diverted from landfill. Using a carbon waste metric developed by Zero Waste Scotland, the report also estimates that the body’s recycling activities reduced its emissions by 114 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The report reads: ‘Our Green Network is vital in delivering our waste targets. With the help of our facilities staff and waste contractors, they are responsible for coordinating the segregation of recyclables; conducting local waste audits to check progress; and improving segregation to increase the range of waste materials we can either avoid producing or can recycle.’

Waste

Two examples of staff-led measures are described in the report: staff in Arbroath established a local food waste collection service that took more than 70 kilogrammes to compost in its first six months of operation, while Edinburgh-based employees held a clothes swap event.

Overall, 247.66 tonnes of waste were generated by the body in 2014-15, the majority of which was paper (115.48 tonnes). Food (15.99), glass (15.05) and ‘mixed recyclables’ (26.23) were the other big contributors to the waste generation. Twenty-five per cent (61.03 tonnes) of this waste ended up as residual waste, of which 24.55 tonnes were sent directly to landfill and 36.48 tonnes were sent to materials recovery or energy-from-waste facilities .

SEPA also says it reduced its overall energy consumption: gas consumption was down 27.5 per cent, oil consumption was down four per cent, while electricity consumption rose 0.4 per cent. The savings, according to the agency, were enabled by a combination of rationalising its estate and by reducing energy demands in buildings.

Emissions from transport and travel reduced by a further 1.3 per cent during 2014-2015, exceeding the agency’s target to maintain emissions at 2013-2014 levels.

Emissions from all SEPA’s flights are now the lowest they have been since the agency started recording this information, and emissions from domestic (non-island) flights have dropped by 97 per cent since 2006-2007

Responsibility to ‘lead by example’

Terry A’Hearn, Chief Executive of SEPA, said: “As Scotland’s environmental regulator, acting sustainably must be at the core of everything we do. The people of Scotland expect us to lead by example, and this is a responsibility which we take very seriously.

“This year, we have achieved impressive results – our transport and travel emissions have reduced for the sixth year in a row, our waste recycling is the highest it has ever been, and we have also reduced energy consumption across our estate. These are significant achievements and we have achieved them through targeted investments in our estate and by making alternatives to travel, such as video conferencing, more widely available. It is also the result of the commitment and hard work of our staff to reduce SEPA’s environmental

“In addition to our work to reduce our own impacts, we also understand that we must also work in partnership to help Scotland’s communities and businesses to adapt to the changes that are occurring in our environment, and support their attempts to innovate and prosper as part of transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

“We will continue to work openly and honestly towards improving our performance, and ensure we provide the expertise, leadership and evidence that Scotland’s communities and businesses can use to make the right choices and demonstrate sustainability.”

UK government targets missed

A report into the UK government’s progress on environmental goals, published quietly last month, revealed that it had not met some of the targets set at the beginning of the Coalition Government in 2010.

The Greening Government Commitments included a pledge to reduce waste generation by 25 per cent from a 2010 baseline, but only 16 of the 22 departments reported met the target, with an overall reduction of 22 per cent. In fact the Department of Energy & Climate Change experienced an 18 per cent increase in waste generated since 2013-14.

SEPA’s Sustainability Report for 2014-15 can be found at the agency’s website.