News Roundup

Scotland’s Recycling Reality Check
The Scottish Government’s new report shows that while some materials (like food waste) are recycled locally, much of Scotland’s “recycling” is just bulked and shipped elsewhere. Alasdair stresses the need to distinguish between material prepared for recycling and what’s actually recycled at home — a gap that reveals both challenge and opportunity for Scotland’s circular economy.

Violence Against Waste Workers on the Rise
A SUEZ report reveals violence and abuse towards waste workers is up 42%. Sadly, it’s a common issue. Through SWITCH, Alasdair has helped promote training and awareness, stressing that abuse is never acceptable. Useful resources: SWITCH Aggression Resources.

Kingussie High Leads on Reuse
Good news from Kingussie High School, where pupils will swap single-use lunch packaging for reusables. Packaging made up 9% of their waste — so this step is a big win, and perhaps proof they’ve been listening to our reduction and reuse episodes!

Local Sustainability vs. Big Business
Former guest Bryce Cunningham (Ep. 61) of Mossgiel Dairy has lost his East Ayrshire Council milk contract to multinational Muller. Bryce supplied organic, local milk in bulk, cutting packaging and supporting local jobs. His loss highlights how procurement focused only on cost can ignore environmental and community benefits.

A Dog with a Nose for Litter
Finally, meet “Little Logie,” a black Labrador from Plymouth trained to collect bottles and cans on walks. If a dog can tidy up the coast, surely we can all manage our litter. Follow his cleanup adventures on Instagram!

Topic: Recycle the Waste You Produce
Jane and Alasdair move onto the third stage of the waste hierarchy: recycling. Too often seen as the ultimate solution, recycling only works when done right — and comes after reduce and reuse.

Almost anything can be recycled in theory, but without clean streams and proper systems, much isn’t viable. Coffee cups, films, and food-contaminated packaging are major culprits, while “wish cycling” (wrong items put in the bin in hope) only makes things worse. Around 20% of UK household recycling is spoiled before it even reaches processors.

High-value recycling happens when glass bottles or cardboard become the same products again. But plastics are often “downcycled” into lower-value items due to poor separation. Contamination and weak markets make it harder — virgin materials often undercut recycled ones despite landfill tax at £126/tonne.

Simple habits matter: rinsing containers, separating films, tearing greasy pizza boxes, and using food waste bins (still only 20% used in Scotland). Maggot fears usually come down to poor segregation, not the system.

Stats show Scotland’s recycling rate at 42.1% — behind England (44%), NI (50.2%), and Wales (57%). With strong systems already in place, Scotland should be leading, but better public engagement is essential.

Takeaway: Clean, separated recycling means stronger markets, lower costs, and a system that works for everyone.

Rubbish Rant
Two rants this week.

First, Alasdair’s beach walk revealed litter left after a sunny weekend, while Jane shared “Bin Wars” from her local Facebook group. Complaints about overflowing bins sparked calls for bigger ones, but as Jane said: take responsibility for your own waste.

Later, Alasdair turned political, reacting to a new £52–56k role at Zero Waste Scotland for a Circular Economy Behaviour Change Analyst. Local authority depot managers overseeing 100+ staff earn about the same — yet face daily abuse, safety risks, and huge responsibility. His point? It’s not that analyst roles lack value, but frontline workers often aren’t recognised equally.

Takeaway: We all need to own our rubbish — and rethink how we value the people keeping the system running.