Waste Management Strategy in Highland

Highland Councillors have agreed to develop a sustainable waste management strategy for the Skye and Lochaber areas including the option of a small waste to energy plant as a means of disposing of waste in the Skye and Lochaber areas.

At present, waste in Skye is transported to a private disposal facility at Falkirk, while waste generated in Lochaber is handled by a private contractor at Duisky, near Fort William.

In the East, the Council is working with Moray Council to identify a waste management solution.  In the meantime, waste from the Inner Moray Firth will continue to be transported to landfill in Peterhead, via an agreement with Stoneyhill Waste Management. Waste in the Caithness and Sutherland will continue to be disposed of at the Council owned and operated landfill site at Seater.  This facility has sufficient capacity to accept waste in the long term. An extension to the current planning consent to 2040 was recently approved.

Waste collected in Badenoch and Strathspey is disposed of at the Council owned and operated landfill site at Granish, near Aviemore. This facility has limited capacity and is expected to close by the middle of the next decade.

Councillor Roy Pedersen, Vice-Chairman of the Council’s Transport Environment and Community Services Committee, said: “Identifying efficient ways of dealing with our waste is a high priority of this Administration.  We will be working very hard to identify the most cost effective and sustainable ways of achieving this and at the same time maximising opportunities to recycle.”

Meanwhile, the Council is working closely with social enterprise sector to divert waste from landfill.  A total of £807,000 was paid by the Council, via the Strategic Waste Fund, to eight social waste enterprises for recovery services carried out on behalf of the Council.

Two new groups have expressed an interest in providing diversion services for the Council. They are the Highland Real Nappy Project and a combined submission from the Acharacle Community Company and Rag Tag ‘n’ Textile.

The TEC Services Committee has approved a submission to the Scottish Government for continuation of funding for Community Sector Waste Groups through the Strategic Waste Fund.
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