Aberdeen City Council incurred costs exceeding £370,000 for diverting non-recyclable waste to landfill during operational shutdowns of the new Ness Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in East Tullos.
The £150 million plant, designed to process non-recyclable waste from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Moray councils, has experienced a tumultuous operational period since becoming fully active.
The state-of-the-art facility, which began full operations in December 2023 and was formally opened in April 2024, aims to incinerate approximately 150,000 tonnes of residual waste annually to reduce landfill reliance and generate electricity and heat for local use.
However, the plant, built by a consortium led by Acciona with Indaver as the original operator, faced its first major disruption in June 2025. Indaver cited “ongoing financial issues” and “ongoing issues” as reasons for reviewing its involvement, leading to a temporary closure. During this period, waste destined for the Tullos facility was redirected to the Stoneyhill landfill site in Peterhead. The expense for this diversion during the summer 2025 shutdown alone amounted to £370,745, as reported by BBC Scotland News.
An agreement reached in August 2025 saw EFW Ness Ltd, a subsidiary of Acciona Industrial UK Ltd, take over the running of the facility, allowing operations to resume. However, this arrangement proved to be short-lived. Aberdeen City Council terminated its contract with EfW Ness Ltd on 8th December 2025, triggering a second shutdown.
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This second closure led to a further period of waste diversion.
As of January 2026, Suez Recycling and Recovery UK has been appointed as the interim operator for the Ness EfW plant, with operations restarting on 27th January. John Scanlon, Chief Executive of Suez recycling and recovery UK, affirmed his company’s commitment, stating: “Suez has a strong track record in operating safe, compliant and efficient energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities across the UK and Isle of Man, and 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.”
The council indicated that staff from the previous operator would transfer to Suez, and that the temporary closure was not expected to impact household refuse collections.
