Chamber delighted to be working on single-use pilot projects
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Caithness Chamber of Commerce has said it is delighted to be working with Zero Waste Scotland to deliver three pilot projects locally that will focus on reducing consumption of single-use items.
The chamber, working in partnership with Thurso Community Development Trust, is joining more than a dozen other organisations across Scotland in delivering the pilots this year as part of the Ditching Disposables scheme. It will be the only delivery partner in the Highlands and Islands.
Some details about the £1 million programme were announced by Zero Waste Scotland this week and reported in the John O'Groat Journal. Supported by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), it aims to tackle a range of single-use items, from coffee cups to water bottles and food packaging.
The pilot projects will consist of:
- A deposit return scheme for reusable cups in Thurso and Wick town centres
- Working with two major Caithness-based events, Taste North and the Mey Games, to reduce the use of disposable items
- Single-use reduction at a large employer in the area
The chamber will also be seeking to work with its members to help them deliver their own projects. In addition it will be undertaking a programme of community engagement to help raise awareness of the concerns surrounding disposable items, recycling, and the wider issues of sustainability.
Chamber chief executive Trudy Morris said: “This is a real win for both the chamber and the north Highlands. As the only delivery partner in the Highlands and Islands, we have a unique opportunity to help demonstrate the unique challenges and opportunities that this region faces.
“Sustainability is a key policy priority for Scottish Government and it is clear that reducing consumption of single-use items is likely to be enforced through legislation in the years to come. By providing an evidence base for how these sorts of projects work in a remote and rural area, we can help ensure that any future policies take the needs of communities like the north Highlands into account.
“As a chamber and as a business, we also recognise that we have a responsibility to look at how we and our members can build a more sustainable future for the region. This will involve looking not just at how we move to more environmentally friendly products but at changing our attitude away from disposability and focusing more strongly on reduction and reuse.”
Catherine Macleod, chairperson of Venture North, which organises the annual Taste North festival, said: “Taste North is the flagship food and drink event in the north Highlands, and the event has always had a focus on local production and responsible consumption.
"Looking at how we can work to reduce our consumption of single-use items is a great fit with our overall mission and we look forward to working with the chamber of commerce on this exciting project.”
Bev Durrand, of Caffé Cardosi in Thurso town centre, said: “We are very pleased to be involved with this exciting project. Consumption of single-use items is a real problem facing our society and we look forward to working with the chamber, the community development trust and other businesses in Wick and Thurso to try and address this.”
Zero Waste Scotland chief executive Iain Gulland, said: “We know single-use items are blighting communities across Scotland and it is something we are determined to tackle. Some of these are only used for a matter of minutes, yet can hang around our environment for years.
“Four-fifths of our carbon footprint as a nation comes from the products and materials we consume. That’s a huge proportion, and single-use items are an entirely unnecessary part of that. Curbing our consumption habit is vital if we want to have a real impact on the climate emergency.”
Ditching Disposables is part of Zero Waste Scotland’s Resource Efficient Circular Economy Accelerator Programme, which will invest £73 million in circular economy and resource efficiency projects, thanks to support from the ERDF.
