Aberdeenshire councillors have agreed to invest £250,000 in a controversial project to build an incinerator in the region – despite concerns the local authority had considered “no alternative”.
The scheme to build the Energy from Waste (EFW) plant in Aberdeen is estimated to cost £180million, of which Aberdeenshire Council will provide between £80million and £85million.
The project would be a partnership between Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils and would involve all three region’s waste being processed at the site at East Tullos.
The council’s policy and resources committee yesterday agreed to approve the start-up costs of the project and to move forward with pre-feasibility investigation work at a cost of £250,000.
The EFW plant is aimed at changing the way waste is dealt with across the north-east as an alternative to landfills.
Speaking at the committee meeting, director of the council’s infrastructure services, Stephen Archer, said that a formal decision on the local authority’s commitment to the project was still to be taken.
Councillor Paul Johnston expressed concerns about the scheme and moved a motion to not agree the funding to make time for a report on the EFW plant’s full risks.
The co-leader of the Democratic Independent and Green Group added: “My concern has been that the entire process had been in private before this. And this is the start of the project with no alternatives being talked about.
“That is why I was really, really strongly strongly against going down this road. Nobody has really explored whether it is a good or a bad idea.”
Mr Johnston called for all of the north-east’s waste to be recycled instead.
“I am passionately not a person that believes that an incinerator is a good idea, especially when there is a lot of jobs that will come from reusing and recycling things,” he added.
“To me they are wasting £250,000 now and they will be wasting more.”
Though his motion was unsuccessful, members agreed on the need to debate the issue thoroughly.