Scottish business leaders have overwhelmingly accepted the government's challenge to dramatically reduce waste.

The news came at a consultation hosted by Envirowise in Edinburgh.

The majority favoured mandatory collection of environmental data but rejected proposals for setting targets on managing waste.

Over 120 representatives of organisations across Scotland attended the event, with three in four delegates coming from the private sector.

The vast majority (93%) agreed that collecting information on the type and quantity of waste generated by companies will help businesses to meet cost cutting and resource efficiency targets.

During the event, delegates were polled on their attitudes towards a variety of waste issues in order to influence the government's Zero Waste Strategy Plan, which will outline how policy makers intend to meet the 42% greenhouse gas reduction target in the new Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.


According to Envirowise, one third of delegates called for waste data collection to be mandatory for all businesses and 63% would like to see a mandatory policy for medium to large businesses and waste collection companies.

However, only 16% said the number one priority for businesses is for defined targets to be set and 12% even suggested that targets are not needed at all in order to meet the Scottish government’s ambitious waste reduction targets.

One in five attendees claimed their business does not already collect information about their company’s waste because it is not a priority, though an encouraging 57% already monitor their own internal waste reduction initiatives.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: "The conference has very much focused on how businesses can improve resource efficiency, reduce the amount of waste produced, reuse valuable resources and increase recycling levels to help achieve Scotland’s Zero Waste and Climate Change targets.

"Scottish government recognise that businesses have a major role to play if we are to become a zero waste society, and accordingly we hope that attendees will reflect on the discussions that have taken place and take the opportunity to respond to the consultation on Scotland's draft Zero Waste Plan."

(BMcC/KMcA)