Edinburgh Binliner Axed..?

[Gflynorw]

With this in the news today


http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...-depot-set-to-close-two-years-early-1-4326973

Powderhall waste transfer station – where thousands of tonnes of household rubbish each year are received and compacted before being dispatched to a landfill site near Dunbar – is scheduled to close for good at the end of 2018 when a new waste facility is due to open at Millerhill in Midlothian.
But four weeks ago the ageing plant had to stop accepting refuse after cranes broke down and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) raised concerns about drainage.

Since then bin lorries from across the city have been taking waste to two privately-operated sites instead. The council says this arrangement is partially covered by an existing contract and the overall effect is cost-neutral.

Now it looks likely the closure of Powderhall will be brought forward to avoid spending huge sums on a plant which is about to be axed anyway.

Environment convener Lesley Hinds said: “We have suspended operations temporarily at the moment to look at how much would need to be invested in Powderhall. We will also be looking at alternative arrangements until Millerhill opens.”

The new £150 million Millerhill “energy from waste” incinerator – a joint project with Midlothian Council – will take 135,000 tonnes of household waste and 20,000 tonnes of commercial waste a year and generate enough electricity each year to satisfy the energy demands of up to 32,000 households.

Cllr Hinds said: “When Millerhill becomes operational we won’t be sending anything to landfill...

I assume this will mean the end of the Binliner trains and the possibile lifting of the Fountainhall to Meadowbank freightline?

 

[snowball]

But four weeks ago the ageing plant had to stop accepting refuse after cranes broke down and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) raised concerns about drainage.

They had to refuse the refuse.

There used to be a door at Leeds University with "Refuse" printed on it - it was a place for storing bins or something.

Somebody had written underneath "NO!".

It was an act of compliance and denial simultaneously. A bit like Russell's paradox.

 

[randyrippley]

They had to refuse the refuse.

There used to be a door at Leeds University with "Refuse" printed on it - it was a place for storing bins or something.

Somebody had written underneath "NO!".

It was an act of compliance and denial simultaneously. A bit like Russell's paradox.

Are you sure it wasn't the admissions desk with two out-trays labelled "Refuse" and "Refuse"?
Bit like one of my old bosses who had two trays on his desk labelled "Inaction" and "In action"

 

[SpacePhoenix]

So the binliner trains are going to be binned? Which FOC runs the binliner trains that might be trashed? Will there be enough work in the area for the drivers to be transferred to?

 

[Photohunter71]

I still think that rubbish by rail should continue, there's an incinerator at Dunbar being constructed, but surely there should be rail connections to both sites if the councils really believe in practising what they preach with regard to environvental issues.

 

[najaB]

I still think that rubbish by rail should continue, there's an incinerator at Dunbar being constructed, but surely there should be rail connections to both sites if the councils really believe in practising what they preach with regard to environvental issues.

In an ideal world, the Scottish councils would work together to fund a few large, rail-served combined waste to energy and recycling plants. It'll never happen though.

 

[takno]

I still think that rubbish by rail should continue, there's an incinerator at Dunbar being constructed, but surely there should be rail connections to both sites if the councils really believe in practising what they preach with regard to environvental issues.

As far as I can gather from the linked article, the incinerator is going to be at Millerhill (as opposed the the current landfill at Dunbar). I'd guess that Millerhill is as easy to get to from much of the city as Powderhall, so the economics may not work out. The current waste transfer station is also slap bang in the middle of a residential area, taking up fairly valuable land, and with a smell which blights surrounding properties.

 

[mcmad]

As far as I can gather from the linked article, the incinerator is going to be at Millerhill (as opposed the the current landfill at Dunbar). I'd guess that Millerhill is as easy to get to from much of the city as Powderhall, so the economics may not work out. The current waste transfer station is also slap bang in the middle of a residential area, taking up fairly valuable land, and with a smell which blights surrounding properties.

The new incinerator is already built at Millerhill, the access road isn't the greatest but there are no signs of rail transfer being considered that I could see. Its on the opposite side from the now demolished loco shed.

 

[mark-h]

The new incinerator is already built at Millerhill, the access road isn't the greatest but there are no signs of rail transfer being considered that I could see.

The Millerhill facility is intended for use by Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils. If these are the only users then there is no need to have a rail link as all the incoming waste will be local.

The current waste transfer station is also slap bang in the middle of a residential area, taking up fairly valuable land, and with a smell which blights surrounding properties.

Powderhall was built as an incinerator (current buildings from the 1970s) but only used as a waste transfer station from 1985. It is not the most efficient design for a waste transfer station having to handle the waste more than a custom built transfer station.

as opposed the the current landfill at dunbar

Viridor are currently building an energy recovery facility (incinerator) at the Dunbar landfill site. The rail connection will be continue to be avaliable. Since the Millerhill facility will take a lot of the sites current supply they may need to obtain waste from further away so we may see longer distance bin trains in the future.

 

[Photohunter71]

In an ideal world, the Scottish councils would work together to fund a few large, rail-served combined waste to energy and recycling plants. It'll never happen though.

Wholeheartedly agree with your view. What was so wrong with constructing a waste transfer site at Millerhill using the rail for a short hop to the waste incinerator at Dunbar? I feel they've missed a trick here.

Mark- H, I hope you are correct, I hope Viridor do take the opportunity to have long distance bin trains to Dunbar.