SNP's landfill ban falls apart

Scottish Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP today said the SNP Government's landfill ban has "fallen apart" because ministers failed to prepare, after SEPA published new rules allowing mass breaches of the imminent ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste (BMW).

SNP ministers today said the ban would still come into force on 31 December. However, at the same time SEPA published guidance allowing anyone who manages waste to apply for exemption after exemption to breach the ban and continue landfilling BMW without any consequences.

Liam McArthur MSP said:

"The SNP's landfill ban has fallen apart because ministers failed to do the hard graft needed to deliver their own policy.

"For years, the SNP and Greens had planned to circumvent the landfill ban by sending 100 lorryloads of rubbish a day to England. Now ministers have come up with a new system of red tape to dodge their own ban, where the waste still goes in Scottish landfills after a rubberstamping exercise.

"Ministers ought to admit that their ban is now just a pretence and a PR exercise that will make zero difference to greenhouse gas emissions."