by DOUG COLLIE
The performance of Scottish Borders Council in recycling the region's household rubbish is so unimpressive that the rate in 2017 was a full six percentage points below the figure recorded as long ago as 2011 while almost 60% of all garbage collected went to landfill.
Last year's recycling figure of 39.8 per cent which was published this week, was way below the council's 46.3 per cent recorded in 2011 and lagging behind the national average of 45.2 per cent in 2016.
At the end of May the Scottish Environment Protection Agency announced that recycling levels for all forms of waste in Scotland had exceeded 60 per cent for the first time in 2017. Last year's data for all 32 Scottish local authorities is expected to be published by SEPA in September.
But a report to SBC's Executive reveals only a marginal increase in local recycling rates between 2016 (39.0%) and 2017 (39.8%). Before that Borders recycling had been travelling in a downward direction while most of the rest of the country were improving their ability to divert waste from landfill.
As reported previously, the suspension of garden waste collections several years ago had a seriously detrimental impact on the council's recycling rates. But despite vociferous protests from service users and some councillors there has been no reprieve for the axed green bins.
Meanwhile the future location for the treatment of residual waste - approximately 30,000 tonnes of it per year - remains undecided.
The Easter Langlee landfill site which produces large volumes of methane gas each year, is scheduled for closure in mid 2019. A waste transfer station is currently being developed at the Galashiels site from where the rubbish will be taken by road to its final destination.
A long awaited waste management strategy has yet to be finalised by a group of councillors and officers who first met in 2015 following the collapse of the council's disastrous contract with New Earth Solutions Group.
One of the priorities for the local authority will be to invite bids for the contract to haul and treat the waste previously bound for landfill. But critics claim such an arrangement is not environmentally friendly given the additional polluting lorry movements as the loads of refuse are taken out of the Borders.
Once the alternative system is up and running the remainder of the Easter Langlee site will be capped and the site is to be grassed over.
It looks as though the Borders will continue to be affected financially and environmentally for many years to come by the failure of SBC to develop and deliver its very own waste treatment facility. That unproductive venture has already cost local taxpayers the thick end of 2.5 million pounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment