4.7 Other Recovery

As with recycling, there may be important local commercial opportunities for recovery of non-MSW, particularly as the cost of more traditional waste disposal methods increase.

In Shetland, there may be scope for recovery of energy from non-MSW through the existing Lerwick plant (around 3000 tonnes of offshore waste is already recovered annually in this way).

Energy recovery through combustion has the advantage that it can effectively treat certain hazardous wastes. If biomass derived wastes are combusted the energy generated has the advantage of being generated from a renewable source. It should be noted that the actual wastes treated would depend on their nature, the technology of the plant chosen and the economics of managing the wastes.

There may also be potential for collaborative non-MSW recovery projects, such as composting schemes in the food production sector and/or anaerobic digestion in the fish-related industries. Such initiatives will require further investigation by the two local-industry working groups.