Days are numbered for Granish tip by Aviemore
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A new £1.1 million waste transfer station on the outskirts of Aviemore is complete and the facility is expected to become fully operational this autumn.
The update was provided at the latest meeting of the local authority’s communities and place committee.
Highland councillors meeting at headquarters in Inverness were informed that construction of three new waste transfer stations are complete or under way in the region.
The new development at Granish will have a big part to play in the strath’s future waste management plan.
The nearby tip will have to close by 2025 as part of Scottish Goverment measures to ban non-biodegradable waste heading to landfill.
The plans to end all non-household biodegradable waste from being disposed of at dumps have been set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan.
Land will need to be reinstated at the dump which services the entire Badenoch and Strathspey area.
A construction programme for Inverness waste transfer station is well under way and is scheduled for completion towards the end of January 2023 and to be operational from April 2023.
The council is working to secure a ground lease for a waste transfer development site and to have a facility in place and operational for late summer or early autumn 2024 in Fort William.
A council spokesperson said no specific date had yet been confirmed for the opening of the local facility.
She commented: “The new waste transfer station will be used for the storage and transfer of waste and recycling from the Badenoch and Strathspey area.
“This is a key part for meeting a ban on biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill from the 1 January 2026 and from this Autumn when Granish landfill site will cease to be used for landfilling collected residual waste.
“The construction of this area waste transfer facility has been completed at a cost of just over £1.1 million.
“From 2023, a solution that will comply with the landfill ban ahead of schedule will see general waste from the new waste transfer station transported to an energy from waste processing facility in East Lothian.”
Councillor Graham MacKenzie, chair of the council’s communities and place committee, said: “A huge amount of great work has been achieved and is ongoing to ensure that Highland Council meets its waste management obligations.
“I would like to thank all the staff for their hard work and innovative approaches to ensuring that Highland improves its future recycling.”
