Council agree to transfer Borders waste outside region

Councillors in the Scottish Borders have approved plans to transfer household waste outside the region.

They were advised to agree proposals to set up a "waste transfer facility" on a site at Easter Langlee, near Galashiels.

The council's existing landfill site is due to reach capacity in 2017.

Plans to build a plant which would produce energy from the region's waste were scrapped earlier this year.

From January 2021, landfill sites in Scotland will no longer be able to accept biodegradable municipal waste that has not met "stringent pre-treatment processes".

A report to Scottish Borders Council estimated that the new transfer facility will cost £5.5m.

A spokesman for the council said: "The report recommends that the landfill site is closed in 2017, and that a waste transfer station is developed at Easter Langlee to take its place.

"The landfill will subsequently be restored and waste will be transported out of the Borders to alternative treatment facilities in order to comply with the 2021 landfill ban.

"This option is considered to represent the most flexible and cost effective way forward for the council at the current time. It will also provide time for the development of the council's new waste management plan."

About 40,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste is put into the Easter Langlee landfill site by the council every year.