A LUCRATIVE contract for the disposal of Argyll and Bute's household and municipal rubbish is likely to be a major cost challenge to the local council as it tries to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

That's the warning given in a new report on the council's readiness for a ban on sending biodegradable waste to landfill in five years' time.

The ban, under the Waste Regulations (Scotland) Act of 2012 had been scheduled to come into effect in January 2021, but the Scottish Government announced in September that it would not be implemented until 2025.

Until then, the government instead wants to encourage a strategy of 'energy for waste' (EfW) – the process of using rubbish to create a source of fuel or to generate electricity or heat.

A report to a special council action group on climate change says that Argyll and Bute "faces a unique set of circumstances that disproportionality increase this cost challenge of landfill ban compliance".

READ MORE: Household waste recycling rates fall in Argyll and Bute

One of those, according to the report, is a public-private partnership (PPP) with Renewi – formerly known as Shanks – for disposal of the area's waste.

That 25-year deal is not due to run out until September 2026.

The report, by Kirsty Flanagan, the council's interim executive director for development and infrastructure, states: "The introduction of the ban on disposal via landfill constitutes a material change on this contract.

"The PPP contract is very difficult and costly to vary in any way."

The Renewi contract, for which the council paid £560,000 during the current financial year, with the same sum due in 2020-21 applies to all of mainland Argyll and Bute, except for Helensburgh and Lomond, where waste is transported for disposal to various locations outside the council area.

READ MORE: New 'waste transfer station' idea for Helensburgh is rejected

Ms Flanagan's report also warns that the move away from sending waste to landfill is likely to lead to "a dramatic and an ongoing increase in revenue costs" because of transport costs associated with the area's geography.

She says it's likely that the council will need both financial and practical help from the Scottish Government to help with the transition away from landfill use.

Her report continued: “The council fully supports the goals and objectives of the Scottish Government’s policy of a ban on the disposal of biodegradable municipal waste in landfill.

“The council accepts and endorses that increased waste reduction, reuse and recycling is critical to achieving the Scottish Government’s 2045 target of a net zero carbon economy.

“Depending on the solutions that are put in place the range of cost increase could be between £3.6million and £6million per annum.

READ MORE: More than half of Helensburgh's waste is still going to landfill (from 2018)

“There is also a significant capital cost requirement to support the necessary transition to ban compliance of around £2million to £3million.

“Argyll and Bute Council remains committed to complying fully with the ban ahead of the 2025 commencement date.

“However, due to the disproportionate challenge the council faces due to our rural/island geography and our existing contractual commitments to the Waste PPP agreement, we require a mixture of practical and financial support from the Scottish Government to achieve this transition and secure a significant reduction in CO2e [carbon dioxide equivalent] generation.”

READ MORE: Click here to catch up with all the latest Helensburgh and Lomond news headlines