5 hours agoShareSaveKevin KeaneBBC Scotland’s environment correspondentShareSaveNESS Energy ProjectIn Scotland, there are currently eight operational incinerators across the country.Until 2022 there was a rush to build more but the Scottish government put the brakes on development fearing there would end up being an overcapacity. The only additional ones which will now be built have already entered the planning process.While incinerators are still responsible for a significant amount of greenhouse gases, experts say they are about a third less environmentally damaging than the methane caused by materials rotting in landfill sites.As an additional benefit, they also produce some electricity and some recover heat to warm neighbouring homes and buildings.Colin Church, who chaired an independent review into incineration in Scotland, believes the shift to incinerators has been the right choice.He told Disclosure: “It’s probably the best thing that we can do with waste, with our current levels of technology, and so capturing some energy from that is a good idea.”Circular economyEnvironmental groups are concerned that contracts which guarantee waste being delivered by councils to incinerators will put off local authorities from investing in more recycling.Kim Pratt, from Friends of the Earth Scotland, described the current waste management system as broken.She said: “Incineration in Scotland is out of control. “There have been incinerators built in Aberdeen, in Falkirk, there’s one this year that’s going to be built in North Ayrshire as well.”All of these incinerators have communities locally who are opposing them.”Waste campaigner Laura Young said: “One of the worries is these are expensive facilities – expensive to run, big contracts involved in this – and it means that we need to utilise them. “We built them so we need to use them.”The Scottish government points to a range of initiatives it has launched in recent years to tackle household waste and create a more “circular” economy, where material are reused over and over.These include bans on single use vapes, forthcoming charges on disposable cups and a planned deposit-return scheme for cans and plastic bottles.It said the “vast majority” of councils had alternative measures in place ahead of the landfill ban coming into force but they will “work closely with local authorities and sector bodies to monitor and review any related issues which may arise as the date of the ban approaches”.The Scottish government added: “Any export of waste should only ever be viewed as a short-term solution.” …
