Household waste in Highland is around 135,000T per year – that’s 1.3T per household per year. The total Highland waste if we take in all industrial and construction activity was estimated at 1,099,950T for 2006/7. Waste is something that affects us all. Sustainable living means making sense of the goods we consume. At present if everyone on the planet had Scotland’s standard of living we would need the resources of three planets to maintain ourselves.
Waste is one of the environmental issues where we have seen the biggest changes in the last few years. Scotland launched a National Waste Plan in 2003 and at the same time 11 Area Waste Plans were developed to cover the whole of Scotland. The Highland plan is based on the Highland council area and can be seen at SEPA - Highland. Since 2003 we have seen the roll out of kerbside recycling schemes throughout the Highlands.
The Highland community has been one of the most active in Scotland in taking action to make better sense of resource use with projects on waste prevention, re-use of furniture and household goods, composting and recycling. Work is supported by the Community Recycling Network Scotland whose Highland representative is David Niven. There is a wealth of experience in work that is being carried out from Thurso to Glencoe and Uig to Tain. There’s lots more to do and people happy to share experiences with those who want to get involved.
Acharacle Re Use Project
The Bike Shed
Blythswood Care
Golspie Recycling and Environmental Action Network
Highland Real Nappy Project
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