No cause for concern over festive recycling

Dec 5 2008 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH and Kinross Council has moved to distance itself from the Christmas crisis that is threatening to disrupt much of the recycling carried out across Scotland.

It is thought that many of the companies who export recycled waste on behalf of local authorities are now having to pay the firms at the other end, particularly those in the Far East, to take things like paper and plastic off their hands.

Scotland sent 400,000 tonnes of recycled waste to Asia last year, earning anything up to £350 per tonne for the trouble. But the global economic crisis has turned the situation on its head, fuelling fears of a stockpile as the recycled mass is left with nowhere to go.

It was reported this week that Croy-based Stirling Fibre, who export recycled waste on behalf of the majority of Scotland’s local authorities, was having to pay their Chinese counterparts £15 per tonne to get rid of waste.

But a spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council stated that taxpayers would not have to fork out to avoid a waste pile-up over the festive period.

“Most of our waste is recycled within the UK. In cases where we export, we are monitoring the situation closely with our contractors. There is no indication that we have any cause for concern at the moment,” he said.