13 hours ago
Truckloads of Scotland's rubbish to be exported to England after landfill ban
Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said the policy is "farcical".
Truck loads of Scotland's waste will be exported to England at the end of the year after a landfill ban kicks in.
SNP Ministers are banning 'black bag' waste from being buried in landfill from December 31st, but the BBC says they have admitted there are not enough incinerators to cope with extra demand.
The Scottish Government has said the export of waste will only be a short term solution.
Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: 'This farcical policy speaks volumes about the SNP's sticking-plaster approach to government.
'Once again the SNP has set ambitious targets and completely messed up the delivery.
"The climate emergency is a global one and the SNP is not doing the heavy lifting urgently required.
'The SNP needs a real plan to reduce waste and protect our natural environment.'
The landfill ban relates to biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) and applies to domestic and commercial waste.
It has been reported that up to 100 truckloads of Scotland's waste will be moved each day to England once the ban comes in.
The Government wants to end black bag waste being buried in landfill sites by ramping up recycling rates and using incinerators.
David Balmer, a waste expert from ERS Remediation, told the BBC Scotland Disclosure programme: "You're looking at the equivalent of between 80 and 100 trucks minimum running seven days a week to take this material to a facility in England or abroad."
Gillian Martin, cabinet secretary for Climate Action and Energy, said: "The reason for the incineration gap is due to outside factors, particularly inflation and the cost of initially building them.
"We've got plans for more incinerators, with energy from waste schemes, to come on in the next year, and over the next three years - so it is a temporary situation."
Domestic recycling rates are not increasing as quickly as Ministers would like to see.
Scottish homes recycled 41.6% of their waste in 2013 but ten years later the figure had increased by less than 2 percentage points to 43.5%.
The Scottish Government said "Any export of waste should only ever be viewed as a short-term solution."
