Rob Edwards

1,000 new waste plants planned for Scotland

from Sunday Herald, 29 June 2008

As many as a thousand new plants could be built to turn Scotland’s mountains of waste into heat and power for homes and businesses, according to a report for Scotland’s green watchdog.

But the report - to be published this week by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) - will provoke anxiety in communities across the country worried about pollution from waste treatment plants in their areas.

Sepa, however, insists that the proposed new facilities will be clean and strictly regulated. They include up to 741 gas-producing composting plants and 228 small-scale incinerators, all of which could supply hot water and electricity.

Glasgow bids to go greener

from Sunday Herald, 29 June 2008

The Dear Green Place wants to get greener. Glasgow City Council has launched a bid to become one of Europe’s most environmentally-friendly cities.

The council’s leaders are trying to shake off the city’s image as one of the most polluted, most wasteful and most road-obsessed in Scotland by agreeing a series of initiatives aimed at making it more sustainable.

The council has set up a high-level consortium led by Strathclyde University to examine every aspect of life in the city. The objective is “to position Glasgow as one of Europe’s most sustainable cities within five to ten years”.

Big new incinerators could bust government limit

from Sunday Herald, 01 June 2008

Plans to build eight major waste incinerators across Scotland are threatening to bust the Scottish government’s limit on waste-burning, according to a new survey.

Waste companies are proposing to boost Scotland’s incineration capacity 12-fold to over a million tonnes a year. Huge new plants are being planned in Lanarkshire, Aberdeenshire, Highland and East Lothian.

Dangerous waste for Africa seized

from Sunday Herald, 18 May 2008

Two shipments of potentially dangerous waste en route to Africa have been seized by Scotland’s environment watchdog, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The shipments are now under investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) as part of a major new crackdown on illegal waste exports. This is the first time that such action has been taken in Scotland.

The wrong kind of waste hampers composting

from Sunday Herald, 04 May 2008

One in ten of the wheelie bins collected for composting end up being dumped on landfill sites because they are contaminated with the wrong kind of waste.

The latest figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reveal that nearly 33,000 tonnes of waste collected for composting by local authorities were disposed of as landfill in 2005-06.

According to SEPA and local councils, this is because the waste is contaminated with plastic, tree trunks and other items that can’t be composted. They are urging members of the public to be more careful about what they put in organic bins.

Composting: seriously good shit

a talk to the Composting Association Scotland's seminar, 'Planning, Permitting and Purchasing, Perth, 01 May 2008 

It is good, if somewhat unexpected, to be here. I am not a government minister, in fact more often a government critic. So it’s hard to resist a platform which could have been Richard Lochhead’s or Michael Russell’s. I wish Richard Lochhead well with he and his wife’s new baby.

Like any good opening speaker, I'll start with some jokes, and I'll assume you're broadminded. Composting: in crude terms, in one sense, maybe stretching definitions a little, what we’re talking about here is shit - and boy are there lots of jokes about that. I particularly like the way the simple word can be used to help define almost any human framework of belief.

Plan to dig out old waste dump for new schools

from Sunday Herald, 10 February 2008

An unprecedented plan to excavate a giant waste dump dating back more than 60 years to make way for two new schools has prompted fears of an environmental disaster.

North Lanarkshire Council last week gave the green light to building St Ambrose and Drumpark secondary schools on an old landfill site in Coatbridge. But in order to prevent the build-up of explosive methane leaking from the site, the council is planning to remove all the waste.

For council officials this is “challenging”, but for local residents and politicians, it’s frightening. “It’s an appalling idea,” said Joe Ambrose (61), who overlooks the site from his front window.

Environment watchdog goes green - mostly

from Sunday Herald, 27 January 2008

Scotland’s environmental watchdog is succeeding in greening itself by cutting pollution, waste and air travel - but it still has a problem with the mountains of paper it uses.

The latest green audit of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), to be published tomorrow, shows that the organisation is on track to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 20% of 1998-99 levels by 2010.

But it has failed to meet its target to reduce paper consumption per employee by five per cent of 2005-06 levels. Only a three per cent cut was actually made, though measures have now been introduced to try and improve on that.

Waste breaches covered up by council

from Sunday Herald, 06 January 2008

A litany of damning allegations about illegal waste dumping, pollution breaches and the mishandling of confidential data on children have been covered up by a Scottish local authority.

Senior officials at Aberdeenshire Council doctored an internal waste audit to cut out its most serious findings, including a warning that the council was vulnerable to “legal action, expensive penalties, loss of credibility and extensive reputational damage”.

A suggestion that the council could also be guilty of “double standards” was omitted, along with the conclusion that “waste management as a service appears to be near the bottom of the list of priorities for Aberdeenshire Council”.

Scotland accused of 65 breaches of European laws

from Sunday Herald, 16 December 2007

Scotland has been accused by the European Union (EU) of 65 violations of laws meant to prevent pollution, protect wildlife and control waste, according to a secret government database released to the Sunday Herald.

The number of alleged breaches of European legal directives over the past six years is twice as high as previously admitted, prompting accusations yesterday that Scotland's record was "shocking" and had been "covered up".

The range of environmental crimes investigated by the EU is very broad. They include breaking rules on overfishing, hazardous waste, water pollution, sewage, radiation protection, plant imports, pesticides, birds of prey and pigs.

Warning that waste target could be missed

from Sunday Herald, 16 December 2007

Ministers are being warned that Scotland could fail to meet a vital target to stem the growth in waste - but that burning large amounts in big incinerators is not the solution.

Instead, the Scottish government is being urged by its environmental advisors to reduce the mountains of rubbish produced by households and businesses. Landfill bans and other compulsory controls should be considered in the drive towards a “zero waste society”, they say.

Recycling targets at risk from spending change

from Sunday Herald, 09 December 2007

Targets to boost recycling could be breached and more incinerators could be built because Scottish ministers have stopped ring-fencing council spending on waste.

A decision by the Scottish government to allow local authorities to decide on their own spending priorities has provoked alarm amongst professionals, politicians and environmental groups - and concern from ministers’ own green watchdog.

Setting the scene on sustainable waste management

a talk to the 6th Annual Scottish Waste Management Conference, Glasgow, 10 October 2007

Thank you. Like a good opening speaker, I've tried hard to find a good joke about waste, but I failed. All the waste jokes I found on the internet were, well, rubbish. And one I was sent by the consultant George Niblock, who may be known to some of you, was, well, unrepeatable. So I've slightly adapted a joke mocking engineers instead. Forgive me if you've heard it.

A mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a waste engineer and a computer software engineer are all travelling along the road in an old banger when all of the sudden the car backfires loudly and comes to a juddering halt.
"Ah!" says the mechanical engineer, "I know what the problem is - it'll be the valves, or the piston in the engine."
"Nonsense!" says the electrical engineer. "It'll be a problem with the spark plugs or the battery!".
"No, no, no," says the waste engineer, "there's bound to be something wrong with the exhaust."
As they argue, they notice that the computer software engineer hasn't said anything, so they turn and ask what should be done.
"Errr," says the computer software engineer, "how about we all get out of the car, count to ten, get back in again and just try to restart it?"

Scotland still bottom of European waste league

from Sunday Herald, 07 October 2007

Despite investing £375 million over the last seven years to cut the huge amounts of waste dumped as landfill, Scotland is still languishing at the bottom of the European rubbish league.

A Scottish Government analysis passed to the Sunday Herald reveals that only Greece amongst the 15 European Union countries has a worse record. Scotland's position is "shocking", say environmentalists.

Incinerator go-ahead sparks fears

from Sunday Herald, 09 September 2007

Scottish ministers have come under fierce fire for giving the go-ahead to a controversial waste incinerator near Perth, paving the way for others around the country.

Companies and local authorities are planning up to ten new incinerators to make energy from waste and cut the amount of rubbish dumped as landfill. But environmentalists brand the plants as "cheap and nasty" and say they will jeopardise efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling.

SNP challenged to solve its environmental policy problems

from Sunday Herald, 02 September 2007

Scottish National Party ministers are this week being challenged to solve the problems that plague their environmental policies on pollution, transport, waste and wildlife.

A powerful coalition of all Scotland's major environmental groups is urging the new Scottish government to cut carbon emissions, reduce car and air travel, ban large incinerators and stem the loss of wild plants and animals.

Heading for a WEEE fall on recycling electronic waste

from Sunday Herald, 01 July 2007

New rules in force today to encourage the recycling of electrical goods could face failure because hardly anyone is aware of them.

An opinion poll has found that that only two per cent of people know about the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive meant to make it easy to recycle old mobile phones, TVs, computers and washing machines.

Businesses dump two-thirds of waste

from Sunday Herald, 14 January 2007

Two-thirds of the waste produced by Scottish businesses is still being dumped in landfill sites, swamping householders' efforts to recycle more of their rubbish.

Although ministers have invested heavily in schemes to increase domestic recycling, they have been accused of failing to tackle the mountains of waste generated by factories, shops, hotels and restaurants.

Scottish ministers' mountain of rubbish

from Sunday Herald, 17 December 2006

A huge and ever-growing mountain of rubbish is being produced by Scottish ministers despite their promises to cut back on waste, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The amount of paper, plastics and metal thrown away by the Scottish Executive is rising faster than waste from households, and has hit record high levels. Yet at the same time ministers are urging members of the public to reduce the amount of waste they create.

Incinerator plans under attack

from Sunday Herald, 07 May 2006

AS many as 10 large waste incinerators are being planned by local authorities across Scotland, the Sunday Herald can reveal.