What a waste

Highland Council has announced a new strategy for dealing with our waste, the council plans to link with Moray Council and introduce incinerators to dispose of much of our rubbish. The net result is to try and minimize landfill, which is part of an EU target.

Energy from Waste is a friendly name for incinerators but they will still have a huge environmental impact producing toxins, and a detrimental effect on our tourist industry depending on where they are to be sited. The planned sites have not been released as yet. Locally when this idea was previously mooted Invergordon and Whiteness were two that were put forward. Whiteness is to be a marina and a housing development but with the current economic climate would the owners consider selling for an incinerator? No matter where the new plants are to be built planning blight is likely to affect several areas and no-doubt we will see several NIMBY groups launched.

Highland Council has tried to introduce increased recycling so it is curious that it has not tried to advance this method for waste disposal. Local group Moray Waste Busters in Moray seem to be a worthwhile initiative that succeeds in recycling much more than we do in Nairn.

Recycling from many of the remote communities that Highland Council covers can be a very expensive business and the market for recycled raw materials has dropped dramatically in recent times. But should we not consider other strategies before adopting that of waste incineration?