Although the council granted permission for a 13,000 tonne materials recycling facility on the Altens site last week, failure to gain planning permission for its incinerator means contractor SITA believes there won't be sufficient waste treatment capacity for the Scottish city over the 25-year contract period.
Aberdeen council made the decision about the incinerator following a recommendation by city planners who gave three main reasons why it should be rejected:
- The proposed annual capacity of 160,000 tonnes exceeded the city's needs for 110,000 tonnes of municipal waste disposal a year.
- The building itself at 35m high with a 70m stack would have a “significant adverse impact” on the landscape.
- Environmental impacts could not be properly assessed because the air quality assessment had “significant omissions and shortcomings”.
Bob Reid, head of physical development at the council, said in a report: “It is considered that approval of the EfW plant of the capacity proposed would be contrary to planning and waste policies and guidance which aim to achieve increasingly sustainable methods of waste management.”
Responding to the council's decision, Peter Gillatt, SITA's chief operating officer for treatment, said: “We will review the decision taken by the council, discuss the matter with client officers and then take a view on how we can move forward. It is clear, however, that the current disposal arrangements within Aberdeen are not sustainable and the refusal of this application will ultimately mean significantly higher costs for the taxpayer within the city.”
MRF
The materials recycling facility (MRF) which has been approved by the council, will have a 13,000 tonne annual capacity but had been planned to operate alongside the incinerator. Mr Gillatt said: “SITA UK will review the possibility to develop the MRF in isolation of the EfW facility but this is outside of its current contractual obligations.”
He said: “We are pleased that the council has given permission for the materials recycling facility. However, even with the increased recycling rates that the new facility will allow us to achieve, it is not sufficient enough to handle all the waste produced by households and commercial properties in Aberdeen.”
Landfill
At the same meeting, the city council also gave approval for SITA to reopen a 15-hectare landfill site at Hill of Tramaud, Harehill. The waste management company plans to dispose of a maximum of 130,000 tonnes a year of non-hazardous waste until December 2008 after which the site will be restored.
Mr Gillat said: “Aberdeen desperately needed this decision to assure a short-term solution for waste management with the area. SITA UK will invest significantly in engineering work to allow the site to reopen and also in its restoration when the site closes in 2008.”
However, the council gave approval for the landfill to reopen subject to list of conditions, including the provision of a new one-way system opposed by SITA as a safety hazard.
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