Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-07990

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of landfill site locations that closed in each of the last five years, and, in each case, how long the site underwent monitoring prior to closure.

The following table provides a breakdown of all landfill sites with a pollution, prevention and control (PPC) permit that are currently in the ‘closure’ phase, in that they are not receiving waste for disposal .

Following the December 2020 cyber-attack on SEPA, it is not possible for SEPA to provide the dates at which sites moved from operational to closure status but in the last five years no PPC landfill sites have entered ‘Definite Closure’ meaning these sites could theoretically become operational again in the future.

All of these sites have been monitored, both by the operator and/or SEPA since before their permit was issued and will continue to be subject to monitoring until such time as an application to surrender the permit is approved by SEPA, i.e. throughout operational, closure, definite closure and after care phases.

Site Name	Status/Phase	Site location
A & M Smith, Bankhead, Portlethen	Closure	Aberdeenshire Council
Crows Nest L/F,Raemoir Rd,Banchory,Aberdeen	Closure	Aberdeenshire Council
Brandon Howe L/F Site, Inverboyndie, Banff	Closure	Aberdeenshire Council
Howe of Byth, Cowbog, New Pitsligo	Closure	Aberdeenshire Council
Hill of Tramaud Landfill, Harehill, Aberdeen	Closure	Aberdeenshire Council
Auchenlosh Landfill Site	Closure	Dumfries and Galloway Council
Galdenoch Waste Disp Site, Leswalt, Stranraer	Closure	Dumfries and Galloway Council
Aucheniness Waste Disposal Site, Dalbeatie	Closure	Dumfries and Galloway Council
Cockenzie Ash Lagoons, Musselburgh	Closure	East Lothian
JM Murdoch, East Capellie Farm L/F, Neilston	Closure	East Renfrewshire Council
West Fortune Transfer Station & Landfill	Closure	Edinburgh Lothian and Borders
Scottish Water, Broadside Landfill, Denny	Closure	Falkirk Council
Scottish Power, Valleyfield Ash Lagoons	Closure	Fife Council
Oatslie Sandpit L/F, Cleugh Rd, Midlothian	Closure	Midlothian Council
Shewalton Landfill Area 2 & 4/5, Irvine	Closure	North Ayrshire Council
Auchinlea L/F Site, Bellside, Cleland, M/well	Closure	North Ayrshire Council
Mossband Farm High Street Newhouse Motherwell	Closure	North Lanarkshire Council
Kingsdale LFS, Firth, Orkney	Closure	Orkney Island Council
Aberfeldy Groundworks Ltd, Mains of Taymouth	Closure	Perth & Kinross Council
SITA, Binn Landfill, Binn Farm, Glenfarg	Closure	Perth & Kinross Council
WH Malcolm Ltd, Reilly Quarry, Houston	Closure	Renfrewshire Council
James Fairbairn, Lamberton Inert Waste L/F	Closure	Scottish Borders Council
Easter Langlee Landfill Site, Galashiels	Closure	Scottish Borders Council
Shetland Gas Plant Peat Store, Sullom Voe	Closure	Shetland Islands Council
Tarbolton Moss Landfill Site, South Ayrshire	Closure	South Ayrshire Council
GCC, Cathkin L/F, Cairnmuir Rd, East Kilbride	Closure	South Lanarkshire
Rigmuir Landfill Site, East Kilbride	Closure	South Lanarkshire
Muirhouse LF, Muirhouse Quarry, Strathblane	Closure	Stirling Council

Source: Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

Question reference: S6W-07992

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the procedure required to formally close a landfill site, including any period of monitoring required.

The status of a landfill site can be described as either ‘Operational’, ‘Closure’, ‘Definite Closure’ or ‘Aftercare’.

Landfill sites are not considered formally closed until they reach ‘Definite Closure’ status. Sites in the Closure phase are those which are no longer accepting waste, but could potentially be made operational again in the future.

The Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 outline the formal legal process behind the closure of landfill sites to achieve Definite Closure.

As per these regulations, closing procedures to achieve Definite Closure begin when either the conditions specified in the landfill permit are satisfied; when SEPA initiate closing procedures following a request from the landfill operator; or following a reasoned decision of SEPA set out in a closure notice.

Closing procedures will not be completed until the reports from the operator, as required by SEPA, have been submitted to and assessed by SEPA; a final on-site inspection is carried out by SEPA; and SEPA have given the operator notice in writing that it approves the closure of the landfill site.

Once Definite Closure has been established the site is considered to be in its aftercare phase. The aftercare phase will continue until such time as an application to surrender the permit is approved. The site is regulated and monitored by SEPA throughout the operational, closure, definite closure and aftercare phases.

Further information can be found in SEPA guidance WST-G-56 ‘Guidance on Closed Landfill Regulated under Pollution Prevention and Control’.

Question reference: S6W-08344

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economics of processing Scotland’s scrap steel domestically.

Question reference: S6W-08345

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economics of electric arc furnaces in Scotland.

As noted in the reply to question S6W-08344, we commissioned independent research into the steel sector in Scotland: this included consideration of the scope for electric arc furnaces in Scotland. We would encourage any company interested in developing an electric arc furnace to seek advice and support from their local Enterprise Agency. These are large-scale ambitions that need large-scale solutions and will require significant private sector investment.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6O-01072

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the education secretary has had with the circular economy minister regarding progress to enhance education and skills for a circular economy.

Question reference: S6W-07785

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to excluding glass containers from its Deposit Return Scheme, in light of the reported announcement that glass will not be included in the schemes in England and Northern Ireland.

Question reference: S6W-07784

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of including glass in its Deposit Return Scheme, in light of other parts of the UK not including it.

Including glass in our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO 2 equivalent over 25 years. DRS will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our environment.

Our DRS is designed to stand alone and our business case did not include any assumptions about the level of ambition of schemes in other UK nations. We will, of course, work with the other UK administrations to ensure that our schemes are interoperable, without jeopardising the ambition of our own scheme.

Question reference: S6O-01040

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture minister has had with the minister for zero carbon buildings regarding work to install energy efficiency measures in cultural and heritage buildings.

Question reference: S6W-07644

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 26 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether its high-level ambitions on nature, set out in its Programme for Government, Statement of Intent on Biodiversity, National Strategy for Economic Transformation and Draft National Planning Framework 4, that aim to tackle the nature and climate crises holistically, will be supported with new funding and delivery mechanisms in the Resource Spending Review.

We recognise that the high-level ambitions we have to tackle the twin nature and climate crises need to be supported with adequate funding. This is why we have already committed to invest an additional £500 million in the natural economy over the course of this Parliament. This includes £250 million on peatland restoration over the current decade, £65 Million on the new Nature Restoration Fund over the course of this Parliament, and £100 million to increase forestry planting,

‎ £30 million to expand Scotland's national forests, and £20 million to increase nursery stocks. The Resource Spending Review will reflect these priorities.

Question reference: S6W-07648

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 26 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its 2024 timescale for introducing a Natural Environment Bill provides sufficient prominence to the declared nature emergency, and whether it will bring this timescale forward.

We recognise the need for urgent action to address our twin nature and climate crises. That is why we are not waiting until the introduction of the Natural Environment Bill to take action. We have already committed to invest £65 in our Nature Restoration Fund over the course of this Parliament and £250 restoring our peatland over this decade. We will soon be consulting on our new Biodiversity Strategy where we will set out our ambitious vision for a nature rich Scotland. We remain committed to introducing a Natural Environment Bill in year 3 which will include nature targets to help tackle the biodiversity and climate crises.

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