09-07-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
Reason for Aberdeen bin collection delays REVEALED as city's incinerator struggles through ongoing issues
Ongoing issues at Aberdeen's incinerator have been blamed for missed or delayed bin collections.
Aberdeen City Council this week issued an apology for missed and delayed bin pick-ups across the city.
Refuse workers could not complete collections on all routes, leaving some residents with overflowing bins.
Residents were told they would have to wait until their next scheduled collection day to have their waste taken away.
The Press and Journal can now reveal the reason behind the disruption is down to the city's £150m waste centre experiencing ongoing issues.
The plant's operator Indaver has cast doubt over its future involvement with the NESS project due to 'problems with operations'.
Usually, non-recyclable waste from households is transported to the Energy from Waste (EfW) plant.
The waste is then incinerated, which generates electricity.
The Tullos-based plant was built under contract from Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils.
The incinerator is equipped to handle 150,000 tonnes of combined waste from the three local authorities.
Indaver operates the facility and ongoing issues at the plant have prompted a review of their involvement.
A spokesperson said: 'Indaver can confirm that, due to ongoing issues the company is experiencing in relation to its operations at the NESS waste-to-energy facility in Aberdeen, Scotland, the company is reviewing its future involvement in the project.'
It is unclear what would happen should Indaver decide to stop operations.
Aberdeen City Council has had to make alternative arrangements for bin collections.
The council said: 'We apologise that bin collections are currently being impacted by short-term operational challenges.
'We have had to put alternative tipping arrangements in place due to the temporary unavailability of the Ness Energy from Waste Facility.
'Contingency arrangements have led to some minor disruption to service, but the team are working tirelessly to mitigate any delay, and we thank people for their patience. Residents should continue to put their bins out as normal.'
Moray Council says they have had to divert to other waste disposal locations.
A spokesperson said: 'Our services remain unaffected by this issue, other than having to divert to alternative disposal locations which have been sourced.'
An Aberdeenshire Council spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the current issues at the plant.
'We have worked with colleagues at Aberdeen City and Moray councils to ensure that there is no disruption to our household residual waste collections by ensuring alternative disposal arrangements are in place.'
