The UK’s largest recycling plant opens in Scotland

A new recycling factory has opened near Edinburgh which is set to become the largest in the UK.

Waste specialists Brewster Bros developed the project, which required £3.8 million of investment into new state-of-the-art equipment. The new technology allows the plant to process difficult material and maximise recovery. At full capacity, it will be able to turn around 400,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste.

Scott Brewster, Director at Brewster Bros, said: “Our number one aim is to treat and recycle construction and demolition waste as a resource, ensuring zero waste to landfill.

“…we are looking forward to shaping the future of the recycling industry across Scotland and beyond. This new plant should act as a game-changer for the construction industry, by saving money for our customers and ensuring they can dispose of their construction and demolition waste in a cost-effective and sustainable way,” he added.

The major new facility will help the Scottish Government achieve its target of 70 per cent of all construction waste by 2020.

Stephen Boyle at Zero Waste Scotland, said: “In Scotland the construction sector is responsible for producing nearly half of the country’s waste, and recycling construction and demolition material has a key role to play in minimising that.

“By recycling, we can keep materials out of landfill and in high-value use for longer, reducing the need to quarry finite virgin material and helping the environment. But what the launch of the Brewster Bros recycling plant shows is that by recycling effectively we can also generate investment and create new jobs, which is great news for Scotland.”

Building domestic capabilities to recycle more waste is vital to increasing sustainability rates. A recent report from the National Audit Office found that half of reported recycling is, in fact, exported and it is difficult to guarantee where this waste ends up.