Protecting our environment and limiting pollution should be one of the priorities of a Government.
I note that many NGOs are also in opposition to this dramatic increase in incinerators, enabled by the laissez-faire attitude of the Government.
My colleague Monica Lennon raised this in a written question to the Government here, but the response did not fully address Scottish Labour’s concerns about this issue.
So Scottish Labour will continue to press the Scottish Government on it, and Sarah Boyack MSP has written to the relevant Cabinet Secretary, and has also contacted SEPA to understand why they are not seeking to further control incineration capacity.
During the passage of the Circular Economy Bill, Labour fought to make the bill more robust, so that there would be a legal requirement to adhere to the waste hierarchy. The Scottish Government chose to leave that work until the publication of a Circular Economy Plan, which is yet to be published.
Once it is available, I will be sure to scrutinise to ensure that reuse takes priority over incineration.
I will continue to push the Scottish Government to meet the highest standards possible.