Building blocks for a waste-free Scotland

Scotland’s Hamilton Waste & Recycling Ltd, one of the country’s largest independent waste management companies, is a leader in delivering on Scotland’s vision for a zero-waste society. As well as minimising unnecessary consumption, that vision involves maximising the reuse, recycling and recovery of resources, rather than treating them as waste¹.

Scotland was among the first nations to publish a circular economy strategy. One of the three pillars of that strategy – along with product design and manufacturing – is managing waste and resources. The opportunity with this extends beyond safeguarding the country’s dramatic natural environment and curbing its greenhouse gas emissions – it could also offer a way to mitigate the fallout from the decline of its oil and gas industry².

Today, 90% of the UK's oil production takes place in areas of the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. With at least 60% of North Sea oil and gas platforms set to be decommissioned by 2030³, there will be ready supplies of materials needing to be reused and recycled by Scotland’s waste management industry as well as skilled workers looking to make a transition.

Although the waste management industry will play a crucial role in developing a more sustainable economy in Scotland and the rest of the world, the industry itself needs to continue becoming greener. It’s come a long way already: across the UK, waste management is responsible for around 4% of greenhouse gas emissions today, down from 8.5% in 2000.

They did that by becoming the first Scottish waste management company to achieve carbon neutrality by installing solar panels to generate 45% of the energy it uses and procuring green energy for the rest. The company also started introducing electric vehicles to its fleet and using software to optimise collection routes in order to minimise fuel use and emissions. The little carbon dioxide it still produces is offset through the accredited Trees for Life project. In addition, Hamilton Waste captures and recycles 98% of water used in its facilities.

Moreover, the company wants to use the most efficient equipment in its industrial processes. They have just ordered a new Parnaby cyclone technology wash plant to separate fine materials such as granular stone and sand from recycled construction waste. Cyclone wash plants extract these materials considerably more efficiently than the previously available technologies of sand screws and bucket wheels.

HSBC helped Hamilton Waste invest in the new wash plant with a £1.3 million green equipment finance facility with a five-year sale and hire purchase back arrangement. The facility allowed Hamilton to acquire the plant without tying up cash unnecessarily. “Given Hamilton’s intended use of the wash plant to reuse waste material and lower carbon emissions by reducing the need to produce new raw materials, the facility qualified for our sustainable financing programme, which rewards customers for investing in eco-friendly equipment and adopting sustainable business practices,” said Marcus Sangster, Asset Finance Relationship Director at HSBC UK.

The new equipment will provide clear economic as well as environmental benefits, as waste formerly subject to landfill taxation is sold back into the construction supply chain. A great example of the circular economy in action.

It should also help reduce energy and water use, helping take Scotland that much closer to meeting its target to be net-zero by 2045 and eliminate all waste.