A decision taken by the Scottish government ‘household waste from entering landfills’, could lead to the rubbish being sent to England for landfill instead. 

When questioned by the Liberal Democrats last year, Scottish minister Lorna Slater said that “export (to England) is one of the short-term options for the treatment of residual waste” and refused to rule out the use of this ‘option’.   

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “Scots send far more household waste to landfill every year than we do in England.  The Scottish Government says it wants to ban this rubbish from reaching landfill but doesn’t mind if the landfills are across the border in England.  This is complete hypocrisy and its very worrying for our environment.”

In 2021, Scots sent 27.2% of their waste to landfill.  The figure was just 7.8% in England for the same year.  The Scottish ban on landfill use is due to come into effect in 2025.  

Councillor Sykes said, “Exporting tonnes of waste across the border to England is even worse for the environment than landfilling because of the emissions involved in the transportation.  English local authorities must say no to this.  It’s not right that landfills in England should be used to clean up the Scottish governments mess.” 

NOTES

Scottish and English landfill use
Scottish councils begin shift away from landfill – letsrecycle.com

Liberal Democrats challenge Scottish government on use of English Landfills
Meeting of the Parliament: 16/06/2022 | Scottish Parliament Website