OIC to consider closing Cursiter and ‘Hope dumps

The permanent closure of two Orkney household waste recycling centres has been recommended by officers at Orkney Islands Council (OIC).

Next Tuesday, members of OIC’s development and infrastructure committee will consider options for the future of the waste disposal sites at Cursiter Quarry in Firth and in St Margaret’s Hope.

According to a report published ahead of the meeting, the council does not have enough money in its environmental services budget to continue staffing the two dumps. While OIC has benefitted from a special agreement with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for some time now, allowing the dump to remain unstaffed, licensing regulations stipulate that at least one employee must be present for each of the sites to remain open.

While the closure of the two waste and recycling centres would result in an annual saving of £32,000, the report states that an additional £255,000 would have to be spent in order to keep them open.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councillors will consider whether to close the two dumps — with this recommended to occur no later than March 30, 2022. If they vote to go ahead with this proposal, officers have recommended that a full plan be developed for the the closure project, including engagement with relevant stakeholders.

The closure of the sites at Cursiter and the ‘Hope would result in any household waste and kerbside collections from these areas being diverted elsewhere. In 2019, 652 tonnes of waste was deposited at the ‘Hope dump alone, of which 306 tonnes was domestic waste.

OIC currently operates five household waste recycling centres. Plans are currently being drawn up for a new integrated waste facility at Hatston, but — according to the report — this is unlikely to be operational before 2023.

See next Thursday’s The Orcadian for a full report on Tuesday’s meeting, and any decision made by OIC.