Saturday, 14 June 2008
Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray last week took part in a members’' debate on excess packaging to describe to fellow parliamentarians some of the initiatives taking place in Dumfries and Galloway.
During the debate Elaine Murray said:
"The Ecodeco plant in my constituency, which was opened officially at the end of last year - the minister was present at the ceremony - is a public-private partnership/private finance initiative project run by Shanks and Dumfries and Galloway Council, which will operate for the next 25 years. I mention that it is a PPP/PFI project only in passing, because in other discussions we have heard that the non-profit distributing model is one model that is considered not to work quite so well for waste disposal projects. I am sure that we will all look carefully at the functioning of the project.
The main difference in the method of dealing with waste that the plant uses is that the waste is separated not at the kerbside but after collection, when it is dried and sorted and combustible materials are removed and converted into fuel. That has caused some discontent among householders; I have heard quite a number of complaints about the lack of recycling facilities on the doorstep. I do not think that Dumfries and Galloway Council has managed to get across the message that a different approach to recycling is being taken, whereby the waste is sorted after it is put into the bin, rather than before it is collected.
According to Councillor Leaver, who asked Dumfries and Galloway Council about fuel pellets earlier this week - the pellets that the plant produces are being exported to Yorkshire, where they are being used as part of the energy mix for a cement works. However, I understand that companies in Dumfries and Galloway are interested in purchasing the fuel, which would complete the cycle and demonstrate the usefulness of the approach that is being taken.
The former council tip next door at Locharmoss has been capped and restored. The methane gas that the decomposition of its contents produces is being extracted, converted into electricity and exported to the grid. That process is estimated to be able to produce enough power for about 700 homes and, according to a press release, will cut annual CO2 emissions by about 20,000 tonnes, which provides an environmental benefit that is equivalent to planting 30,000 mature trees. I am slightly cynical about those figures and I would like to see the calculation, because the gas is still burned, which produces CO2.
That is not all that is being done in Dumfries and Galloway. I will mention a few other community activities. There are three community can recycling projects - in Annan, Dumfries and Stranraer. A community composting project is under development in Langholm, in partnership with the Buccleuch Estates. We have four community furniture reuse projects and numerous charity shops that resell clothes and bric-a-brac.
I learned an interesting fact when I worked with Help the Aged during volunteers week this year. I have always worried about what happened to unsold clothes, but I learned that clothes that are unsold or unsuitable for sale are taken to national recycling projects, where all textiles are recycled. None of that goes to landfill, which I find reassuring."
ENDS
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