GARWER WasteXchange News

Local authorities urge Weee re-use target Posted: 03 Jun 2008 05:42 AM CDT The EU must adopt a re-use target for discarded appliances as part of its review of the 2003 waste electrical and electronic equipment (Weee) directive, according to an association of European local authorities engaged in sustainable resource management ([url=http://www.acrplus.org/]ACR+[/url]). The current collection target of four kilograms per capita Weee annually should also be replaced by a goal expressed as a percentage of total products sold. The [url=http://www.acrplus.org/]ACR+[/url] position was published on Thursday in response to a European commission consultation. See [url=http://www.acrplus.org/upload/documents/document439.pdf]press release[/url] and [url=http://www.acrplus.org/upload/documents/document438.pdf]position[/url].

Scotland: Big new incinerators could bust government limit Posted: 03 Jun 2008 05:25 AM CDT Plans to build eight major waste incinerators across Scotland are threatening to bust the Scottish government's limit on waste-burning, according to a new survey. Waste companies are proposing to boost Scotland's incineration capacity 12-fold to over a million tonnes a year. Huge new plants are being planned in Lanarkshire, Aberdeenshire, Highland and East Lothian. But they will make it difficult for ministers to meet their target to limit incineration. The environment minister, Richard Lochhead, said in January that the proportion of municipal waste to be burnt in waste-to-energy plants should be kept below 25% by 2025. He believes there is a role for some incineration but has rejected the need for "large, inefficient, white elephant incinerators". That's because too much incineration capacity could create a demand for waste, and undermine attempts to reduce and recycle it. The latest plan is for a massive new incinerator at Drumshangie near Greengairs in Lanarkshire to burn 300,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year. Planning applications have been made for three further large incinerators at [url=http://www.buchanchp.co.uk/]Peterhead [/url]in Aberdeenshire, [url=http://www.cphhighlands.co.uk/]Invergordon [/url]in Highland and [url=http://www.viridor-consultation.co.uk/index.php?contentId=47]Dunbar [/url]in East Lothian. Four smaller incinerators have already been given planning permission at [url=http://www.biogenpower.com/news.html#1]Irvine [/url]in Ayrshire, [url=http://www.binnfarmrrp.co.uk/]Glenfarg[/url] in Perthshire, [url=http://www.rwminfo.com/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=2/EntryID=3593]Elgin [/url]in Morayshire, and [url=http://ascotenvironmental.co.uk/primary-services/waste-treatment/dumfries-energy-from-waste-wfw-facility]Dumfries[/url]. Plans for more incinerators in other areas are also likely to surface soon. The capacity of the eight proposed plants could amount to 1.03 million tonnes of waste a year (see table below). When combined with the 80,000 tonnes already burnt at the existing two incinerators in Dundee and Shetland, this could exceed 25% of Scotland's municipal waste. The survey of planned incinerators was carried out by [url=http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/]Friends of the Earth Scotland[/url]. "This rash of proposals represents a massive and unprecedented increase in incineration across Scotland," said Stuart Hay, the environmental group's head of campaigns. "At this rate the government's 25% energy-from-waste cap could be smashed by the march of incinerators at a local level. The biggest problem is the giant incineration proposals for Dunbar and Greengairs which alone are five and half times bigger than all Scotland's current energy-from-waste capacity." The speed, scale and nature of the waste-burning plans were "alarming", according to Hay. "There must now be big question marks over whether the waste industry and local authorities have really bought into the Scottish government's zero waste agenda." Hay's allegations, however, were dismissed as a "half-informed scare story" by the [url=http://www.cosla.gov.uk/]Convention of Scottish Local Authorities [/url](COSLA). It pointed out that some of the incinerators hadn't yet been given planning permission. "We have to accept that energy-from-waste has a part to play in helping Scotland move towards being a zero waste society," said a COSLA spokesman. "Where the waste is burnt, the emissions from power plants compare very well against, say, cars, so it is ridiculous to scaremonger in this way." The [url=http://www.ciwm.co.uk/scotland]Chartered Institution of Wastes Management[/url] (CIWM), which represents the waste industry, argued that the incinerators would not only burn municipal waste. They could also help turn some of Scotland's 18 million tonnes of commercial and industrial waste a year into energy. CIWM Scotland's chairman, Jim Baird, pointed out that the plant planned for Dunbar had been cut back in size to 300,000 tonnes a year, half of which would be commercial waste. "There will be these speculative initiatives coming from the private sector," he said. The government's green advisers, the [url=http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/scotland.php]Sustainable Development Commission[/url], accepted that energy-from-waste had a role to play, but only if "strict criteria" were applied. "We have welcomed the commitment to set a regional cap on energy from waste as well as targets on plant efficiency," said the commission's director in Scotland, Maf Smith. The Scottish government pointed out that it had the power to call in planning applications. "The Scottish government aspires to a zero waste Scotland and earlier this year this year I set out a number of ambitious policies aimed at making it a reality," said the environment cabinet secretary, Richard Lochhead. "While I recognise that energy-from-waste has a role to play, our priority is to reduce the amount of waste we produce and to increase recycling rates across the country, which is why I have capped energy from waste at 25% by 2025." [b]NEW WASTE INCINERATORS PLANNED IN SCOTLAND[/b] location / status / capacity (tonnes per year) Greengairs, Lanarkshire / scoping / 300,000 [url=http://www.viridor-consultation.co.uk/index.php?contentId=47]Dunbar[/url], East Lothian / application / 300,000 [url=http://www.cphhighlands.co.uk/]Invergordon[/url], Highland / application / 100,000 [url=http://www.buchanchp.co.uk/]Peterhead[/url], Aberdeenshire / application / 100,000 [url=http://www.biogenpower.com/news.html#1]Irvine[/url], Ayrshire / approved / 80,000 [url=http://www.binnfarmrrp.co.uk/]Glenfarg[/url], Perthshire / approved / 60,000 [url=http://ascotenvironmental.co.uk/primary-services/waste-treatment/dumfries-energy-from-waste-wfw-facility]Dumfries[/url], Dumfries and Galloway / approved / 60,000 [url=http://www.rwminfo.com/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=2/EntryID=3593]Elgin[/url], Morayshire / approved / 30,000 [b]Total capacity[/b] / 1,030,000

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