Fast-tracked waste site at Moray Firth
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THOUSANDS of tonnes of rubbish could be processed at a new centralised waste management facility in the inner Moray Firth area.
Highland Council has agreed to fast track plans for the facility, which would aim to recover recyclates and produce ‘refuse derived fuel’. The scheme is part of the local authority’s preferred interim arrangements for tackling imminent bans on landfill. The facility would process the Highlands’ 83,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from 2021.
Thousands of tonnes of waste are produced in the region every year, nearly all of which ends up in landfill at a cost of £11 million a year. Although plans will be progressed with all speed, the council will also carry out a feasibility study into a new ‘energy-from-waste’ as a longer-term solution.
Councillor Allan Henderson, who chairs the council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee, said: "I strongly believe that waste produced in the Highlands should be dealt with in the Highlands.
"Long gone are the days when it was okay to just bury our waste out of sight and allow future generations to deal with the consequences.
"The national legislation changes coming in on January 1, 2021 mean, like all other councils, we will not be allowed to landfill our biodegradable municipal waste.
"Doing nothing is not an option and how we manage our waste needs to be an urgent priority of the council."
The ban is expected to reduce the amount of methane being produced by landfill sites. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 30 times more powerful than CO2.
The aim behind the change in legislation is also to promote the idea of waste being a commodity or resource, and that this will then boost its reuse and recycling rates, as well as stimulate new areas of the economy.
