Scotgen Farce Calls into Question all Advanced Incineration Proposals

Commenting on the news that Scotgen’s Dumfries energy from waste plant is about to go into administration, Friends of the Earth Scotland Director Dr Richard Dixon said:

“With almost 4 years of trials and many episodes of pollution behind them Scotgen still cannot get their gasification plant to work. SEPA have given them one last chance but it seems highly unlikely they will meet the required standards. With last year’s explosion and the recent fire, it is no wonder the firm is on the verge of bankruptcy and this plant looks doomed.

“This is of course bad news for a range of similar proposals around Scotland. If a so-called ‘advanced’ thermal treatment plant has proved too advanced for Scotgen to actually make it work, no community in Scotland can have confidence that any other company can do what Scotgen have repeatedly failed to do. The failure of the Scotgen plant, and potentially Scotgen as a company, shows us that we should give up plans to burn waste and work much harder on recycling and avoiding waste in the first place.”

Other “advanced” waste-treatment plants are proposed in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Lothian, Aberdeenshire and Invergordon. Last week, a plant in Perth was refused planning permission.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Friends of the Earth Scotland is
* Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation
* An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland
* Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups – covering every continent. www.foe-scotland.org.uk