Review into Scotland's waste incineration

An incineration report authored by IOM3 CEO Colin Church recommends a limit on the future incineration capacity in Scotland.

Waste sector expert Dr Church makes 12 policy recommendations to the Scottish government, local authorities and the waste industry on the future of Scotland's waste incineration.

This includes the recommendation to not allow more incinerators to be built on top of current provision.

Another recommendation is for Scotland to have an indicative cap on residual waste treatment which phases out over time as the nation transitions to a circular economy.

The Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater says, 'It is clear from the review that although incineration has a role to play in managing Scotland’s unavoidable, unrecyclable residual waste in a safe way, that role is inevitably limited. As we transition to a circular economy, Scotland will need significantly less incineration capacity than is currently projected and it is vital that we do not have more capacity than we need.'

The Scottish Government will set out its initial response to the Review in June.

Dr Church says, 'The evidence I received shows that, whilst well-regulated incineration does have a role to play in managing unavoidable residual waste in Scotland, the capacity currently being proposed is likely to be more than needed, so a lot of it should not be built.'

You can read the report at: Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury - Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland