Aberdeen City Council yesterday approved the construction of an Energy From Waste plant to divert non-recyclable household waste from landfill.

The proposal was the subject of a six hour debate. The item before councillors was a Planning Application in which they were required to determine the suitability of the plant on purely planning ground as any health or environmental concerns fell outwith the discretion of the Council, falling instead to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

Following on from the decision, the operators will need to apply for a licence from SEPA, who will monitor the operation of the facility and have the power to intervene at any time, should the operators fail to comply with stringent environmental regulations in any way.

The plant will also generate electricity as a by-product of the incineration process, with the potential to alleviate fuel poverty in the Torry area.

The Energy from Waste plant will compliment a new recycling facility which will support mixed recyclate collections and allow many more items to be recycled than is the case at present. The mixed recyclate collections will begin early in 2017 and will be phased in over a few months.