Falkirk Council bosses prepare for landfill waste ban that will cost £5m every year

The council has now started to look at ways it can dispose of around 40,000 tonnes of residual waste – in other words, what’s left after removing recyclable materials – at an estimated cost of around £5 million every year.

A meeting of Falkirk Council’s executive heard that at the moment that waste goes to landfill, but the council’s contract with Avondale Environmental Ltd is due to finish in October.

While that could be extended, the council would prefer to move to a non-landfill solution as soon as possible.

The Scotland-wide ban on sending biodegradable waste to landfill should have come into force last year but was delayed as there was a shortage of sites that could treat the waste to dispose of it.

The ban is seen as a key way of reducing Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Degradation of biodegradable waste in landfill is responsible for the majority of the waste treatment sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2020 to 2021 Falkirk Council sent 39,306 tonnes of waste to landfill, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 17,192 tonnes of carbon dioxide – 90 per cent of the waste department’s total footprint.

Councillors heard that waste treatment solutions, which avoid landfilling would have a positive impact on the council’s carbon footprint, and help achieve national net zero targets.

In getting ready for the ban, Falkirk Council has said it will collaborate with Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils in the procurement process.

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