Poll: Are you concerned about the Aberdeen incinerator?

By Kieran Beattie

March 6 2023, 6:00 am

Steam has been coming out of the Aberdeen incinerator site during the initial firing up process. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson, Monday, February 27th, 2023.

It’s now been a whole week since the Aberdeen incinerator first fired up, sending clouds of steam billowing into the sky.

Visible on the Aberdeen skyline from across the city, the £156 million Ness Energy From Waste plant is now into the “hot commissioning phase”.

This is the process of actually firing up the facility to test it out.

Steam seen coming from the Aberdeen incinerator site on Monday February 27 2023. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.

Once it’s fully up and running, it will be burning 150,000 tonnes of rubbish a year that can’t be recycled from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency says the incinerator poses “no potential for significant pollution“, and the city council says the steam coming from the site right now is “a normal part of the operation at this stage of commissioning“.

However, some residents have voiced concerns about the impact of the incinerator on nearby areas, and environmental campaigners say it will be “contributing directly to the climate crisis” once fully operational.

We want to know what our readers think.

Tell us if you’re concerned or not about the Aberdeen incinerator in our poll here:

Once you’ve completed the poll, you can let us know the reason for your answer in the comments section at the bottom of this article.

What’s been happening at the Aberdeen incinerator since it fired up last week?

The first delivery of waste for the initial hot commissioning period was accepted at the Aberdeen incinerator last Monday.

Ever since, the huge clouds of white steam have been coming out of the site on occasion.

“This is a normal and temporary part of the commissioning process and presents no risk to the public,” the council says.

The Aberdeen incinerator site is located in East Tullos.<br />Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson, Monday, February 27th, 2023.

The council explained that during the testing period for the site, which will last several months, steam will be visible coming out of the top of the stack “as the exhaust gases cool”.

The local authority also said that the stack may “also expel any dust that has gathered in the equipment, and there may be some noise as this is released.”

Steam cleaning is also being carried out at the facility, and so the clouds of gas won’t always be coming from the stack.