SEPA monitors dust at Midlothian glass recycling facility

Viridor Glass Recycling's facility at Bonnyrigg near Edinburgh, which processes 100,000 tonnes of glass a year, is being monitored by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) after residents voiced fears about the health impact of white powder on nearby footpaths.

” Viridor Glass Recycling has agreed to remove the stockpile of glass and intends to adjust one of the sprinklers. “
– David Campbell, SEPA
SEPA officers visited the site in April and said a stockpile of glass cullet had been stored in an area not covered by the dust suppression system. Some of the dust had ended up down the embankment by the nearby river.

However, SEPA did not witness any dust on the public footpath and said it was satisfied by Viridor's measures to stop dust blowing away in future.

SEPA Edinburgh team manager David Campbell said: “Following discussions with SEPA, Viridor Glass Recycling has agreed to remove the stockpile of glass and intends to adjust one of the sprinklers to incorporate the area where this stockpile has been located. We are satisfied by the steps taken so far and will continue to monitor the situation through regular inspections.”

Impacts
At the Bonnyrigg site, which is undergoing a 1.5 million investment (see letsreycle.com story) Viridor processes glass from businesses and local authorities including Dundee, Edinburgh, Midlothian and the Highlands councils. It is one of two glass recycling sites run by Viridor in the UK.

Dan Cooke, external affairs manager for Viridor, said it was not always possible to keep all glass undercover at the site, due to the design of the facility and that on the occasion in question, it had been a very windy day.

He said that Viridor was looking to develop more under cover storage as a result of the incident but denied any suggestion that the glass powder has any health impacts.

Mr Cooke said: “We have investigated the health effects of glass powder and done a number of assessments and taken advice from British Glass – and there is no health risk as it is an inert material. Our employees handle this material day in and day out and it is used in applications such as water filtration and so it is intrinsically safe.”