The council was said to be planning on building an incinerator which could burn up to 65,000 tonnes per year but decided to find alternative arrangements for household waste instead.
Although the Scottish government banned new incinerators in 2022, Friends of the Earth Scotland said that it failed to close “important loopholes” which meant that those already in the system could go ahead.
The Highland council said that its reasons for cancelling its plan to build a new incinerator included public concern around incineration, not wishing to add to the vast amount of plastic being burned and the need to reduce emissions through recycling.
The council will extend its current plans for three years, which includes sending waste to an existing incinerator in Dunbar.
‘Disaster’
Kim Pratt, circular economy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “The Highland council has made a positive decision for local people and for the environment. A new incinerator would have locked them into decades of burning waste, which is a disaster for the planet and a risk to the health of people who live nearby. It can now use the next three years of its waste contract to come up with a plan which is focused on improving access to reuse and recycling for its residents.”
Local campaigner Anne Thomas said: “We’ve been campaigning against an incinerator at the Longman for many years. We need to reduce waste and reuse and recycle it, not burn it. We will then need less incinerators.
“They’re also not an efficient way of generating electricity, producing more carbon emissions than coal. We’re very glad Highland council has decided against this huge waste of money and resources. They now need to move to a properly circular economy, not tie themselves into an expensive contract for someone else to burn the waste.”
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