News Roundup
KKR Set to Sell Viridor for £7bn
Private equity giant KKR is preparing to sell UK recycling firm Viridor, five years after buying it for £4.2bn. With a potential £7bn price tag, it shows how lucrative waste infrastructure has become — even as Viridor’s Kent plastics plant closure highlights ongoing market challenges. Alasdair notes that many UK energy-from-waste sites are up for sale, reflecting both volatility and profitability.
Global Plastics Treaty Talks Collapse
Two weeks of negotiations ended without agreement on reducing plastic production or tackling plastic pollution, as lobbying pressures derailed progress. Jane and Alasdair voice frustration at yet another missed chance to address this global crisis.
Indaver has walked away from the troubled Ness Energy-from-Waste facility in NE Scotland, leaving original owner ACW in charge. Though now operational again, the disruption forced councils to arrange costly landfill back-up — a stark reminder of infrastructure fragility.
UK’s First Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Facility
LIBAT has opened the UK’s first lithium-ion battery recycling site, using nitrogen to safely shred batteries and recover cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium. While “black mass” is still exported for final processing, this is a key step in tackling a fast-growing waste stream.
Major Fire at Dunfermline Landfill
A blaze at Cireco’s Lochhead landfill destroyed equipment but caused no injuries. It’s the latest in a worrying pattern of fires linked to batteries and vapes. With 3–4 waste vehicle fires a day in the UK, Alasdair calls for stronger measures to keep hazardous items out of bins.
Topic: Recover the Energy of Waste Produced
This week, Alasdair and Jane continue their journey through the waste hierarchy, arriving at recovery — the stage where we extract energy from what’s left after we’ve reduced, reused, and recycled.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a clear win: it turns food and organic waste into methane for energy and digestate for farmland. Yet only 20% of Scots use their food waste bins. Full participation could erase Scotland’s current energy-from-waste (EfW) capacity gap.
EfW, often dubbed incineration, deals with what’s left. Modern facilities meet strict emission standards and can supply electricity, heat, and recover metals from ash. Shetland’s district heating scheme is proof of how well this can work.
But EfW faces issues: high costs, inflexibility, and criticism for destroying resources that future tech might recover. With Scotland’s biodegradable landfill ban (Jan 2026) and up to 700,000 tonnes of waste still needing homes, EfW is vital — but far from perfect. Add the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (2028), which could add £80–£90/tonne, and it’s clear we must focus harder on prevention and proper recycling.
Takeaway: Use your food waste caddy, recycle right, and reduce what you bin. The less we throw away, the less we need to burn.
Rubbish Rant: Coffee Cups & Empty Promises
This week’s rant targets the National Cup Recycling Scheme. Backed by Costa, McDonald’s, Pret, and Greggs, it’s launched a £45,000 fund for cup recycling. Sounds good? Not when the UK bins 3.2 billion cups annually, costing over £5m just to dispose of. Against those figures — and the massive profits of these brands — £45k looks like PR, not progress.
Alasdair’s verdict? Skip the disposables. Bring your own cup. One reusable could stop you adding to the 49 cups per person the UK throws away each year.
Final Thought: Real change isn’t token gestures — it’s cutting waste at the source.
