No new waste incinerators permitted – Slater

No further planning permission for municipal incineration facilities in Scotland should be granted, Green minister Lorna Slater has said.

However opposition MSPs urged her to go further in reducing existing incineration capacity, with one saying Scotland risks being the “ashtray of Europe”.

Circular economy minister Ms Slater on Thursday published the Scottish Government’s response to an independent review of incineration.

Waste sector expert Dr Colin Church examined the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy, making 12 recommendations including a cap on the use of incineration as a method of disposal.

Ms Slater said: “Reducing waste and recycling what we do produce is key to tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity and ensuring we all enjoy a healthy environment.

“That’s why we are taking action to create a circular economy, in which materials are kept in use for as long as possible and precious natural resources are not wasted.

“We also need to make sure we manage unavoidable and unrecyclable waste in the short-term.

“By putting in place sensible measures to limit and gradually reduce Scotland’s incineration capacity, we can make sure we can manage our waste today, while ensuring our future waste infrastructure aligns with our climate targets.

“I look forward to working with local authorities and industry to take forward these recommendations.”

She said there would be “very limited exceptions” to the ban on new municipal incinerators.

Following the minister’s statement at Holyrood, Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said: “Incineration should be a last resort, but today’s statement confirms it’s business as usual for burning waste.

“This is a missed opportunity and the minister has done the bare minimum on incineration, declining new planning permission but happy for the massive overcapacity already approved to go ahead.”

He said the Government had failed to heed warnings on incineration, and waste from abroad may be imported to feed overcapacity in Scottish incinerators.

Mr Golden said: “Not content with being the ashtray of Europe, they could turn us into the dump of Europe too.”