SNP Group Leader at
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Cllr Gordon Murray has written to Environment
Secretary Roseanna Cunningham asking her to assist the local authority in
hitting its green targets.
Currently the council is
footing an annual bill of over £100,000 to transport recyclable waste to the
mainland while at the same time trying to increase levels of recycling and
reduce waste going to landfill.
Cllr Murray is asking
the Scottish Government to consider allowing the additional export costs to be
reclaimed from the landfill tax.
In a
letter he states: “Currently, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar pay approximately
£1,000,000 in landfill tax and are actively looking to reduce this by
increasing the participation of the public in our recycling collection
services.
“As
much of the recyclable waste needs to be exported by ferry to the mainland,
this puts an additional £101,000 per annum transport cost on a budget that
could otherwise be used to address public participation and potential income
generation. Our recycling plans are ambitious to see this happening but budget
constraints, such as paying for exportation, are denying the achievement of
these ambitious goals and objectives.”
He
points out that Comhairle nan Eilean Siar was the first local authority in
Scotland to build a dry Anaerobic Digester to process municipal food waste, and
that improving participation rates not only reduces the costs per tonne of
operating the plant, it also increases the production of biogas at the Creed
Park Anaerobic Digester, which will be used to produce electricity and
ultimately, produce hydrogen to fuel the collection vehicles.
Cllr
Murray added: “As mainland based local authorities have no such financial
issues with transportation, I would like to ask if you could consider the
additional export costs be reclaimed from the landfill tax. With this money, we
could not only explore a green transport energy strategy but also set greater
recycling targets and explore potential income generation working in
partnership with the local college and other Community Planning Partners.”
