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Scottish landfill rate at record low – but we still need to reduce waste and boost recycling

Scots are generating less waste than ever before and sending less to landfill.  

The Scottish Waste From All Sources 2023 Official Statistics, published today (15th July) by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), provide details on waste from Scottish households, businesses and public services.   

Scotland generated 9.55 million tonnes of waste in 2023 – a 7.5% decrease from 2022 and down 20.2% since 2011. This overall decline reflects a long-term trend towards better waste prevention and reuse across the country.  

The amount of waste sent to landfill fell to 1.81 million tonnes, down 21.1% from 2022 to the lowest figure recorded. Scotland’s landfill rate now stands at 19%, down from over 50% in 2011, signalling significant progress in diverting waste away from landfill.  

At the same time the overall recycling rate has remained roughly the same (62.2% down 0.6 percentage points from 2022). 

The largest single waste category in 2023 was soils, at 2.76 million tonnes, followed by household and similar waste at 1.92 million tonnes. Encouragingly, household and similar waste generated by Scottish homes and businesses has fallen by 1.2 million tonnes since 2011. 

The statistics also highlight a continued rise in energy-from-waste incineration of Scottish waste, which increased by 20.2% in 2023 to 1.74 million tonnes, the highest level to date. This increase underscores the growing role of energy-from-waste facilities in managing residual waste – material that cannot currently be recycled or reused.  

David Harley, Acting Chief Officer – Regulation Business & Environment, said: 

“The statistics for 2023 show that the hard work of communities, councils and businesses is paying off. We're generating less waste and sending less to landfill than ever before. But they also highlight the scale of the climate challenge still facing us. 

“While the figures show clear progress, they also highlight that we must focus on preventing waste in the first place and prioritising reuse and recycling over disposal. As long as non-recyclable waste is produced, energy recovery will remain part of Scotland's waste hierarchy as a better alternative to landfill, but every tonne of waste avoided or recycled is better for the climate, for communities and for Scotland's journey to net zero. 

“This annual data set gives Scotland an important opportunity to reflect. SEPA’s role is to provide the evidence to support informed decisions by policy makers, industry and local authorities.”  

Secretary for Climate Action Gillian Martin said:  

“I welcome these statistics from SEPA which show that the overall amount of waste generated in Scotland continues to fall faster than the previous target set, and is at its lowest ever level. 

“This highlights the significant, long-term progress we are making towards a circular economy in which fewer resources are wasted. This is not just good for the environment – it will also create new economic opportunities and green jobs here in Scotland. 

“The Circular Economy Act and Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, backed by our £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, seek to cut waste, create consistent and easy to use waste services across Scotland, whilst driving sustainable resource use.” 

Scotland’s approach follows the waste hierarchy - prioritising prevention, then reuse, recycling and recovery, with landfill as a last resort. Much of the progress that has made over the past decade has been driven by policy changes, such as recycling services, duty of care requiring waste producers to separate materials for recycling and reduced residual bin collection frequency. 

 

Notes to editor

These statistics cover all Scottish waste generated and managed, whether managed in Scotland or outwith Scotland. Further detail about all waste including both Scottish and non-Scottish waste incinerated and landfilled only in Scotland is available in Waste in Scotland 2023, titled Waste Incinerated in Scotland and Waste Landfilled in Scotland.   

Also published today is the 2023 update to the Waste from all sources Discover Waste tool on Scotland’s environment web.  This dashboard tool provides a series of visualisations to dynamically view and download the waste data. 

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics . 

Data on waste are collected to monitor policy effectiveness, and to support policy development, particularly commitments in the Scottish Government's Making Things Last - A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland such as the target to reduce waste arising by 15% against the 2011 baseline.Scotland's Zero Waste Plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) was published in 2010 and set an aspirational target to achieve 5% (maximum) landfill for the total Scottish waste arisings by 2025.  

During 2024, the Scottish Government published Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 which sets the strategic approach to move away from “take, make and dispose” to one where we value materials and keep them in use.  

The figures are accurate at the time of publication, however data may be updated if further revisions are necessary. Normally these revisions will be published concurrent with the next official release.