Question reference: S6W-00122
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 May 2021
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 June 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will carry out its review of the role that incineration plays; what the remit of the review will be, and whether it will issue a moratorium on incinerator applications while it is underway.
Answer
Our commitment to tackling the climate emergency and transitioning to a net-zero society by 2045 is unwavering. In 2019, the whole-life carbon impact of Scotland’s household waste reached its lowest level since official recording began.
To help achieve this, building Scotland’s circular economy and reducing, recycling and reusing resources is vital. With this and our world leading climate change targets in mind, the Scottish Government have committed to review the role that incineration plays in Scotland’s waste hierarchy and will update Parliament on plans for this in due course.
To further accelerate progress, Scottish Ministers are fully committed to ending the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill by 2025. This is in line with recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change.
We still need capacity to dispose of residual waste, which cannot be reused or recycled, while we make the transition to a circular economy in Scotland.
It is worth nothing, responsibility for dealing with any planning applications rests, in the first instance, with the local council as planning authority.