Aberdeen’s flagship £155 million incinerator facility in East Tullos has ceased operations for the second time in six months, following Aberdeen City Council’s termination of its contract with operator Energy From Waste (EfW) Ness.
The facility, designed to process non-recyclable waste from across the North-East and generate heat and electricity, now sees its future clouded by a looming legal challenge from the former operator and an interim management appointment.
The Ness EfW plant, a crucial infrastructure project for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, and Moray Councils, officially became fully operational in December 2023, after a testing phase that began in February 2023. Its primary aims were to drastically reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill – a particularly pressing goal given Scotland’s impending ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste from December 31, 2025 – while also contributing to local energy needs by supplying heat to thousands of nearby homes through the Torry Heat Network.
However, the facility has been plagued by operational instability. Its first closure occurred in June this year amidst a “contract stand-off” and “ongoing issues” between the initial day-to-day operator, Indaver UK, and its partner Acciona (the parent company of EfW Ness Ltd).
Reports from trade journals at the time indicated the facility was handed over with a significantly high number of defects, reportedly over 1,800 ‘snags,’ far exceeding the typical industry average of around 350. During this period, waste was diverted to a landfill in Peterhead. The plant re-opened in August after the council reached an agreement with EfW Ness Ltd, which then assumed direct responsibility for its operation.
The latest disruption stems from Aberdeen City Council’s decision on December 8 to terminate its contract with EfW Ness. An EfW Ness spokesperson told BBC Scotland News: “After the operator abandoned the site in June, EFW took control, in collaboration with the council, to run the facility at full capacity. Despite this, the council terminated the contract on 8 December, a decision which EfW considers wrongful and intends to contest.”
In response, the council has appointed Suez, a prominent waste and recycling firm, as the interim operator. A statement from Aberdeen City Council confirmed the change:
“An interim operator has taken control of the facility on an interim basis and staff will transfer across. During this transition period, the site will be closed temporarily and waste diverted to an alternative disposal facility. There is not expected to be any disruption to refuse collection services. Local authority partners are working towards appointing a long-term operator.”
Waste from Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, and Moray Councils is now being directed to alternative sites, primarily the Stoneyhill landfill facility in Aberdeenshire.
Suez has a long-standing relationship with Aberdeen City Council, having managed household waste, recycling centres, and a materials recycling facility under a 25-year contract that was extended in 2023 to run until 2029. John Scanlon, chief executive of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, commented:
“We look forward to utilising this technical expertise to support the councils of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray with the management and operation of Ness EfW on an interim contract. We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Aberdeen City Council through the management of their waste and recycling, delivering increased recycling rates and introducing reuse to the benefit of Aberdeen residents, and we look forward to continuing this collaborative partnership.”
This episode highlights the broader challenges within the UK’s waste management sector. With limited landfill capacity and increasing landfill taxes, set to rise to £126 per tonne from April 2025, EfW plants are crucial for managing residual waste. However, the Scottish Government faces concerns regarding “incineration lock-in” and ensuring such facilities do not undermine efforts higher up the waste hierarchy, such as recycling and reuse. The repeated closure of such a significant public investment underscores the complexities of balancing environmental objectives with contractual and operational realities in the evolving waste-to-energy landscape.
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