Fire at Mintlaw’s Kirkhill waste transfer station
Aberdeenshire Council is reminding residents to help support the safety of facilities and staff by removing batteries from electricals before recycling following a fire at Kirkhill waste transfer station last week.
While the cause of the fire cannot be determined, fires across the waste sector typically occur when electricals containing batteries are thrown in with household waste or recycling and get crushed or damaged in bin lorries and recycling centres, or in this instance at the waste transfer station.
Electricals, if in suitable condition and with all parts and plugs, can also be donated to a directly to a charity or via a reuse container in Banchory, Ellon, Laurencekirk, Macduff, Stonehaven, Portlethen, or Peterhead household recycling centres. If not, they can be placed—with batteries removed—in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) container at any of the council’s recycling centres. WEEE containers are also available at Port Elphinstone’s Davidson Park and at Insch’s leisure centre car park.
Environment & Sustainability Head of Service Ewan Wallace said: “My sincerest thanks to the transfer station operative who spotted the smoke and contacted the fire brigade, and to the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service for their quick response. If we had lost the waste transfer station to fire, it would cost millions to rebuild and disrupt all waste collections across the northeast of Aberdeenshire.
“We are fortunate to have such swift acting individuals and that the fire started before close, so we're asking residents to help ensure the safety of our staff and facilities by removing batteries wherever possible and recycling them separately from electricals."
The Scottish Fire & Rescue Service attended the site to extinguish the fire at the Kirkhill waste transfer station in Mintlaw on Tuesday 27 May.
Transfer stations are large industrial sheds where collection vehicles tip recyclable and non-recyclable waste collected from households into separate bays for bulking into lorries.
The recyclables are hauled to contracted reprocessing companies who transform them into new products or materials.
The non-recyclable waste is taken to the NESS energy from waste facility, located in East Tullos, that processes non-recyclable waste from Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, and Moray councils. It produces electricity for the national grid and heat for a local district heating network. Waste taken to the facility is burned cleanly and completely, meeting strict EU emission standards.
Earlier this year, a fire at Peterhead’s household recycling centre resulted in damage to the electricals container and the loss of valuable electrical items for recycling, serving as a further reminder of the importance of removing batteries wherever possible.
Household batteries can be recycled separately from other electrical waste at all household recycling centres. Household batteries can also be recycled as part of a home’s weekly kerbside collections using freely available pink battery bags. Simply leave a full and sealed battery bag on top of a kerbside bin being collected on any given week.
Battery bags are available for free from local household recycling centres, libraries, or service points. Please note that these should not be used to dispose of vapes—they are for household batteries only.
Specialised drums are available at all household recycling centres across Aberdeenshire to safely store vapes or e-cigarettes before they are transported to Veolia in Portsmouth for recycling, where 94% of all the materials inside them can be recovered.
