By Aileen Robertson

AHEAD OF today’s inaugural meeting of Scotland’s Zero Waste Think Tank, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead was in Dunfermline to launch Fife’s Composting at Home campaign.

Mr Lochhead met Fife Council officials at the City Chambers before being shown one of the local authority’s recycling centres at Dalgety Bay.

The think tank, set to meet in Edinburgh, is made up of leaders of waste disposal services throughout the country, as well as the director of Clean Washington Centre in Seattle, United States.

Chris Ewing, Fife Council’s environmental sustainability manager, will also take part in the discussions, which aim to find ways to make Scotland waste-free.

Fife is the first Scottish local authority to commit to eliminating landfill waste by 2020. It has set out a three-year plan, outlining interim targets of 47% recycling and composting by 2010-2011.

Over the past four years, an estimated 160,000 compost bins for biodegradable waste have been distributed to Scottish households.

Mr Lochhead praised the work being done in Fife to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill.

He said, “Composting of household and garden waste plays a vital part in the push towards a zero waste Scotland.

“This campaign has been enormously successful in the past and the distribution of thousands of bins is testament to that.

“I am hoping to see even more bins appear in Scottish gardens this year. We have come a long way in recycling and composting household waste, but there is much more that individuals can do.

“There are few better places than Fife to launch a campaign such as this.

“In recycling and composting 36.2% of their waste, they are well ahead of the overall Scottish figure and actually recycle more tonnes of waste than any other local authority in Scotland.

“Fife are also the first council in Scotland to commit to the principle of sending zero waste to landfill, by 2020.

“In January, I announced a number of policies which will improve waste prevention, further increase recycling rates and reduce waste going to landfill.

“The think tank brings together a wide range of expertise, all with a common goal—moving Scotland towards becoming a zero waste society.”

Peter Grant, leader of the council administration, said, “It is our vision to become a leading green council, one which we are well on the way to achieving. Fife for example is one of the most improved councils in terms of recycling performance, putting us in the top five councils in Scotland.

“However we believe that, if possible, we should do even more. Landfilling waste is expensive, wastes resources, contributes to the greenhouse effect and increases the risk of other forms of pollution.

“That’s why we’re determined to do all we can to put zero council collected waste to landfill.

“I am delighted to be able to share with Mr Lochhead our innovative plans and policies which are at the forefront of reducing waste to landfill and to discuss partnership working.

“It is important that we receive the support and relevant funding to be able to explore some of our more ambitious plans.”

Chairman of the environment and transportation committee Tony Martin added, “Government targets mean that we face hefty financial implications if we continue to send even the reduced amount of waste that we currently generate to landfill.

“Unless we keep improving our recycling and composting performance we estimate that we could be fined as much as £70 million by 2020.

“It is important that we look at practical ways to achieve zero waste, ones that can be easily incorporated into our daily routines. Fife Council’s first three-year plan sets out ways in which we can achieve this ambitious target.”