New rules mean businesses must tell how much rubbish they create

Companies will have a legal requirement to inform the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) of the amount of rubbish they produce and what it is made from under new regulations to come into force later this year.

Waste experts say publication of the information could spark interest from commercial recycling companies to set up large recycling plants north of the Border - including a much-needed plastics reprocessing facility. Currently, Scottish companies sell on all waste plastics to companies in England and Europe, which can process them and re-sell them at a profit.

Firms are thought to have previously shied away from installing recycling infrastructure in Scotland due to the lack of clarity surrounding the geographical demand for commercial recycling.

"At the moment, plastics are baled and sold to England - then the recycled plastics processed and sold back to Scottish industry at a higher cost," said Jamie Pitcairn, programme manager of Zero Waste Scotland. "We haven't got enough business interest for anyone to install a plastics reprocessing facility here."

Mr Pitcairn said that a capital grants programme was available for firms looking to invest in large-scale recycling facilities north of the Border - but a lack of information about where business are located which would have a specific demand for such a facility deterred companies from setting up in Scotland.

"Companies understand that if they want to invest in something, it has got to be long term," he added. "I think as a result of this, we would see new recycling plants coming to Scotland."

Scottish businesses are estimated to produce around 18 million tonnes of waste every year - compared to just 3.2m tonnes generated by households. The new laws will come into force as part of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act.

Sepa yesterday held an internal meeting to discuss what types of business it is likely to ask for data and how it will use the information. It is thought that large companies are likely to be the first to be targeted.

"In moving forward with implementation of the Zero Waste Plan, the Government wishes to improve the quality of data on commercial and industrial waste," said a spokeswoman for Sepa, which currently has no powers to force a company to reply to a questionnaire on waste. "In the past it has been difficult to accurately identify the types and quantities of waste arising from business premises."

She added that Sepa will develop a full strategy for how the data should be collected once the legislation is passed.