Diverting waste to landfill site cost more than £370,000

Diverting waste to a landfill site when Aberdeen's heat-generating incinerator shut down last summer cost more than £370,000, BBC Scotland News has learned.

The facility - used by Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils for non-recyclable waste - had to temporarily shut in June last year, when the original operator Indaver said there were "ongoing issues".

More than 20,000 tonnes of waste was taken to a landfill site near Peterhead instead.

Responding to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, Aberdeen City Council said it cost £370,745 to transport waste to the Stoneyhill site.

The incinerator in East Tullos - which can process 150,000 tonnes of waste every year, reducing the amount sent to landfill - opened in April 2024.

It closed temporarily in June and re-opened in August after the council reached an agreement with Energy From Waste (EfW) Ness to take over running it.

At the time, EfW Ness told BBC Scotland News the facility was a "world-class project" that was reducing landfill for the region.

It shut again in December after the council terminated the contract.

A third company, Suez, was appointed, and production restarted last month.

A ban on sending black-bag waste to landfill in Scotland was effectively delayed by two years after a BBC investigation last year found up to 100 truckloads of rubbish would have to be transported to England each day.

Not enough waste incinerators have been built in time to cope with the additional waste being diverted from landfill, creating a capacity gap.

Ministers wrote to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) highlighting the challenges the waste industry has been facing in preparing for the ban.

Sepa then issued a notice saying the ban would take full effect from January 2028.