Zero Waste Towns
Zero Waste Scotland supported five Zero Waste Town projects between 2014 and 2020 in Dunbar,Isle of Bute, Perth, Leith and south-central Edinburgh.
Working together with residents, the businesses and organisations that make up these communities a collaborative approach has been taken to move towards zero waste in each location.
Zero Waste Towns are supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the £73million Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Accelerator Programme.
As Scotland’s first Zero Waste Town, the project in Dunbar engaged with schools, helping them to take action to improve their own waste practices. Beyond the schools, a wider community engagement approach with various events to promote Dunbar as being a Zero Waste Town took place.
The key success of the Dunbar project was the establishment of the Zero Waste Reuse Hub. From the humble beginnings of a simple shed on the Dunbar recycling centre, the hub has now been expanded to collections for reuse from all household waste and recycling centres across East Lothian. In addition to the Dunbar store there, is now also a clothing shop in Musselburgh – The Big Pick and a reuse store in Leith – Zero Leith.
This work has demonstrated that these materials are resources that the community wants to access and retain their value.