Scotland's waste sector is on the verge of a crisis which could see rubbish piling up on the streets, experts have warned. They say the combination of significantly reduced landfill space and a breakdown of Glasgow's main incinerator have created a "perfect storm" which could see waste left uncollected. Industry representatives are due to meet ministers to discuss their concerns but say there's no obvious short-term solution to avoid the crisis.
The Scottish government said was working with stakeholders to maintain resilience and identify contingency arrangements should they be required. Landfill capacity in Scotland has been shrinking as operators wind down their operations ahead of a forthcoming ban on sending black bag waste to landfill sites. That had been due to come into effect at the start of this year, but was delayed until January 2028 after a Disclosure investigation reported that 100 lorry loads of waste would have to be sent to England by road each day.
Last year there were 10 sites which took in most of Scotland's residual waste – the material left over after recyclable and compostable materials have been separated out. However, that has now been reduced to just three, one of which is in administration. The problems have been exacerbated by the breakdown of Glasgow's main incinerator at Polmadie, which has been out of action since April.
Welding cracks were identified during routine inspections and the facility is not expected to resume operations until next March. Much of the city's household waste is currently being diverted to a large landfill site at Mount Vernon - but its operator, Patersons, says it only has a few months of space available for burying the rubbish. The amount of rubbish being processed there has increased from about 2,000 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes a week.
An application to extend the site has been refused on appeal by the Scottish government. The operator estimates that it will be full by the end of the year. The ban on sending black bag waste to landfill was designed to encourage more recycling, with the residual waste being sent instead to incinerators where it is burned to create electricity.
The proposals sparked a rapid rise in plans to build waste to energy facilities, which led in 2022 to a ban on new applications This was introduced because of concerns that Scotland would end up with more incinerators than needed to deal with the available waste, particularly if recycling rates increased. But the amount of household waste being recycled has barely changed in a decade. A fresh report published last month by Zero Waste Scotland concluded that most incinerators are operating well below their maximum capacity, which suggests the capacity gap might have been miscalculated.
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