Cursiter and ‘Hope sites set to remain open as recycling centres

Councillors have recommended keeping Cursiter Quarry and St Margaret’s Hope sites open as recycling centres.

The move follows a detailed review of future options for the facilities and will ensure compliance with waste licensing regulations.

Members of the OIC Development and Infrastucture Committee today, Tuesday 7 September 2021 felt that to maintain the recycling presence – allowing for the collection of garden waste, glass, plastic bottles, metals, paper, cardboard, scrap metal and waste electrical equipment in St Margaret’s Hope and Finstown was a suitable, and compliant, way forward.

They were further reassured that Cursiter and St Margaret’s Hope will form part of a wider strategic waste review currently ongoing, and which will include consultation with communities.

The same committee deferred a decision earlier this year on recommendations to cease operating the facilities as sites accepting waste as well as recycling to allow the detailed review to be carried out.

The Council’s Strategic Policy and Projects Manager Lorna Richardson said they recognised the value placed on the sites by the communities.

“The ongoing kerbside collection service has ensured that people are able to dispose of waste in a convenient manner and, should they have any excess, they are able to take it to one of the other three Household Waste Recycling Centres at Garson, Bossack or Hatston.”

Ms Richardson outlined the background: “We held ongoing discussions and negotiations with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) regarding safe operation of the sites despite our inability to provide the required levels of staffing which are a condition of accepting residual waste.

“Those talks enabled the sites at Cursiter Quarry and St Margaret’s Hope to remain open, but with insufficient resources within the Environmental Services budget to staff the two sites we had to find a sustainable, long-term solution to the issue.

“As a result, since April this year the sites at Cursiter Quarry and the ‘Hope have been operating as recycling centres as a SEPA compliant option.”

There remains a risk of abuse at unstaffed sites Ms Richardson pointed out and raised that only last week Cursiter had required to be closed while inappropriate waste material was disposed of.

“Given the care and concern that most Orcadians have for the natural environment it has been very disappointing that both sites have been, and continue to be, subject to abuse, through the deposition of either commercial waste or inappropriate materials. Significant efforts continue to be made to ensure that residents and householders are aware of the ways in which the sites operate, through communication campaigns and onsite signage.”

She issued a plea for folk to stick to the rules and put recycling in the correct skips to enable it to be reprocessed.

“Since April there have been 22 incidences of abuse recorded - six at St Margaret’s Hope and 16 at Cursiter Quarry. On each occasion, operatives and equipment have to be deployed on site to clean up the waste. Further costs then accrue in order to ensure correct disposal. The total cost to the service for these 22 incidents is estimated as £4,885.

“Notwithstanding the incidents, operation of the two sites as recycling centres has, in the main, worked well and has not caused any undue impact to the service’s ability to collect and dispose of household waste and recycling. It has also ensured that the Council is no longer breaching licence conditions as the requirement for on-site supervision applies only when residual waste is being received.”

Chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee Councillor Graham Sinclair said he was content to move the recommendations as they stood, particularly given the assurances made by officers that both sites are part of the wider waste services strategy review, which will include onward consultation with communities.

The Council operates five household waste recycling centres – the cost during 2020/21 was £578,842 – exceeding the agreed budget by £84,242.