Waste strategy development and capital infrastructure cost benefit analysis
- Client Name
- Dumfries & Galloway Council (DGC)
- Location
- Scotland, UK
Challenge
SLR was appointed by DGC to update the Council’s existing waste management strategy to future-proof its service to 2030, taking account of recent waste service changes and medium-term policy and legislative requirements.
In parallel to this, SLR carried out a detailed analysis of future options for residual waste management to comply with the Scottish Government ban on landfill of biodegradable waste from Dec 2025 and assess the future of DGC’s existing operational Locharmoss MBT facility, which is currently used to process residual waste. As part of this work, SLR also completed a commercial assessment of the net benefits from implementation of the recommended actions in the Waste Strategy 2030 Report, including development of a new integrated WTS / Depot / HWRC (the Dumfries Zero Waste Park) to service the town and wider Dumfries region.
Solution
SLR provided the necessary specialist technical and commercial expertise to:
Draft a detailed technical Waste Strategy document which quantified the net commercial benefits from each of its 30 recommended actions, enabling DGC to distil these into the 18 objectives in its new Waste, Recycling and Re-use Strategy 2023-30.
Investigate the current operation of the council-operated Locharmoss MBT facility and recommend potential options for continuing of its future operations on black-bag residual waste.
Input to DGC’s business case for development of the planned DZWP facility, including quantification of the net cost benefits.
Impact
The key outcomes from this work comprised a prioritised actions plan to shape and future-proof the Council’s medium and long term waste management arrangements, with supporting commercial analysis to facilitate and prioritise decision-making with respect to waste capital infrastructure and services.
