Ministers have ‘lost control’ of waste incineration rates, warn campaigners

The Scottish Government has lost control of “runaway” rates of waste incineration, climate campaigners said after the latest figures showed a 15.4% increase in a year.

The total quantity of waste incinerated in Scotland in 2023 was 1.62 million tonnes, up 216,000 tonnes from 2022.

The Government announced in 2022 it would not grant planning permission for any further municipal incinerators.

But Friends of the Earth Scotland pointed out that new incinerators have been switched on since then due to loopholes, and at least one facility has been allowed to increase its incineration capacity.

Circular economy campaigner Kim Pratt said: “It’s clear that the Scottish Government has lost control of incineration in Scotland.

“It’s meaningless to ban new incinerators if you’re not going to make sure that it actually stops more waste being burnt.

“Runaway incineration rates are causing climate-wrecking emissions and air pollution across Scotland. Incinerator companies are now racing to develop new plants.”

Further figures released by the Scottish Environment Protect Agency (Sepa) showed the total amount of household waste generated in Scotland decreased by 1.1% to 2.3 million tonnes – the lowest amount on record.

Overall household recycling rates increased slightly to 43.5%.

Ms Pratt added: “The Scottish Government is failing to make progress with household recycling, and Scotland has fallen well behind our neighbours.

“Getting a hold on this incineration problem is crucial to improve recycling rates.

“As people in Scotland are doing their best to make sure we are recycling all the materials we can, the systems need to be in place to make this work.”

Jo Zwitserlood, head of materials at Sepa, said: “Scotland has ambitions for a circular economy where more of the materials produced and consumed in Scotland are re-used, recycled and re-manufactured in Scotland, creating a range of environmental, economic and societal benefits.

“We’ve all got a role to play – the consumption of products and use of materials touches on every one of us.

“We’re making positive steps towards lowering the carbon impact of Scotland’s household waste and seeing lower amounts of waste generated and disposed of to landfill, which is key to addressing the environmental impact of waste management.”

Acting Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin said: “Whilst we continue to increase our reuse and recycling rates, we will still need an appropriate way to manage our unavoidable and unrecyclable waste – and reduce the amount going to landfill. Incineration will be part of this approach for the medium term.”