Scottish Greens deliver ban on new incinerator approvals
A ban on approving new incineration capacity will help Scotland meet its climate targets and support our ambition to build a circular economy, the Scottish Greens said today.
The policy announcement was made in parliament and comes following Dr Colin Church’s independent review of incineration capacity, which was commissioned by circular economy minister Lorna Slater and reported earlier this year.
Commenting, Scottish Greens energy and climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said:
“I am delighted that with Scottish Greens in government we’ve been able to deliver a ban on the approval of new waste incinerators in Scotland.
“The Scottish Greens committed to banning new incinerators in our 2021 election manifesto and I am proud that we’ve been able to deliver on that commitment today.
“This is something I’ve been campaigning on since 2017, when plans were submitted for a major facility at Westfield in Fife. Today is a victory for campaigners up and down the country who rightly challenged the environmentally damaging policy of burning our rubbish.
“This ban will be put into action through the national planning framework so that new incinerations are prohibited on the same basis as new nuclear power and fracking.”