A number of local authorities, including Aberdeen, Angus and Highland councils, send material to the plant – waste and recycling collections in Aberdeen were suspended on Monday.
A spokesperson for Suez told letsrecycle.com that Aberdeen’s dry mixed recycling, including glass, was going to a facility around 280 miles away near Hartlepool, while material from the waste management company’s other council contracts was going to a facility near Fife.
The fire, which Scottish Fire & Rescue Service says involved a “large area of mixed waste”, began on Friday evening and burnt for several days (see letsrecycle.com story).
A spokesperson for the fire service told letsrecycle.com that, after extinguishing the blaze, they left the site at 11.30am yesterday (13 July), before returning for reinspection at 3pm.
They said no cause had yet been established, but a joint investigation with Police Scotland was underway.
Collections
John Wilkinson, regional director for Suez recycling and recovery UK, told letsrecycle.com: “The fire service remain on site at our Altens East facility to manage hot spots and damp down the waste.
Our team worked quickly to put in place alternative arrangements for Aberdeen’s household waste and recycling
– John Wilkinson, Suez
“Our team worked quickly to put in place alternative arrangements for Aberdeen’s household waste and recycling, and collections resumed on Tuesday, with Monday’s collections rescheduled for this coming Saturday.
“Dry mixed recycling and residual waste are being tipped at local transfer stations, with DMR taken to the nearest appropriate facility for each customer and residual waste to our Stoneyhill landfill.”
Mr Wilkinson thanked the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service “for their ongoing efforts” and Aberdeen city council “for working with us to ensure the least disruption possible for residents”.
Altens East
Suez officially opened the Altens East MRF in Aberdeen in October 2017 (see letsrecycle.com story). It was equipped by MRF machinery manufacturer Bulk Handling Systems (BHS).
Dry mixed recyclables collected from homes and businesses are sorted at the facility, before being sold as materials for reprocessing.
The facility is capable of processing 20 tonnes of mixed recycling, including glass, cardboard, newspaper, plastics, and metals, an hour.
In June, Aberdeen council agreed to extend its waste management contract with Suez by more than three years, which will now see the deal run until 2029 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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