Scotland has unveiled plans to ban recyclables going to landfill to help its drive towards zero waste.

These plans include source segregation and separate collections of key recyclable materials (paper and card, glass, metals, and plastics) and a ban on sending all biodegradable waste to landfill. Other key measures include a restriction on the inputs to thermal treatment facilities, a ban on mixing separately collected recyclable materials and a restriction on the inputs to thermal treatment facilities.

“These measures will set Scotland on the path to becoming one of the highest performing recycling nations in Europe, realising the full potential of items we throw away. Our ban on municipal biodegradable waste going to landfill by 2020 is the first of its kind in the UK and one of the most ambitious of its kind in Europe, if not the world,” said Richard Lochhead, Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment.