Waste Incinerated in Scotland 2024
An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland
Published on 28th October 2025 9:30 AM
This release provides a summary of all waste incinerated in Scotland for calendar year 2024. It excludes Scottish waste incinerated elsewhere. Information on the methodology used to prepare this release and a definition of terms is in the incinerated waste quality report and glossary.
Key points
Waste incinerated in Scotland – 2024 calendar year
The total quantity of waste incinerated in Scotland in 2024 was 1.86 million tonnes (Figure 1), an increase of 239,000 tonnes (14.7%) from 2023, and an increase of 1.45 million tonnes (354%) from 2011.
A total of 788,000 tonnes of waste incinerated were incinerated by recovery1, 42.3% of the total waste incinerated. This was an increase of 180,000 tonnes (29.7%) from 2023.
In 2024, Household and similar wastes were the waste category most incinerated in Scotland (754,000 tonnes, 40.5% of total), and there was a 206,000 tonne (37.6%) increase in the incineration of these wastes since 2023. This increase is due to changes in the waste management sector preparing for the 2025 ban of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill2
In 2024, 2 tonnes of hazardous waste were incinerated in Scotland in 2024 (Table 3).
Data and Trends
Total waste incinerated
In 2024, 1.86 million tonnes of waste were incinerated in Scotland across 18 permitted incineration facilities. This was an increase of 239,000 tonnes (14.7%) from 2023. This increase is consistent with the longer term incineration trend in Scotland, with 1.45 million tonnes (354%) more waste incinerated in 2024 than in 2011 (Figure 1).
Household and similar wastes were the largest waste category incinerated in Scotland in 2024 (754,000 tonnes, 40.5% of total), and there was a 206,000 tonne (37.6%) increase in the incineration of these wastes from 2023. This increase was due to the waste management sector preparing for the 2025 ban on biodegradable municipal waste in landfills2.
Sorting residues was the second largest waste category incinerated in Scotland in 2024 (549,000 tonnes, 29.5% of the total), and there was a 43,000 tonne (8.4%) increase from 2023.
Figure - incineration
Table - incineration
Incineration methods
In 2024, 42.3% of waste incinerated in Scotland was incinerated by recovery, 29.7% by co-incineration and 28.0% by disposal (Figure 2).
Between 2023 and 2024, incineration by recovery increased by 180,000 tonnes (29.7%), co-incineration decreased by 6,400 tonnes (1.1%) and incineration by disposal increased by 65,000 tonnes (14.2%).
Figure - incineration method
Table - incineration method
Notes:
- The definition for each method of incineration may be found in the glossary.
- There were zero tonnes of waste recorded as incinerated by recovery from 2011 - 2018 as there were no municipal waste incinerators operating in that period that have become accredited to the R1 standard.
Hazardous waste incinerated
There were 2 tonnes of hazardous waste incinerated in Scotland in 2024 (Table 3). As there were no hazardous wastes recorded as incinerated in Scotland in 2023, this was an increase of 2 tonnes from 2023.
Although the hazardous waste incinerated in Scotland has varied over time, the overall hazardous wastes incinerated have fallen from 12,000 tonnes in 2011, mainly caused by reduction in Sludges and liquid wastes from waste treatment and to a lesser extent Chemical wastes. There was also a spike in Health care and biological wastes in 2019 and in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure - hazardous incineration
Table - hazardous incineration
About incinerated waste statistics
An Official Statistics publication for Scotland
This is an Official Statistics publication. These statistics have been produced to the high professional standards defined in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which sets out fourteen principles under the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. More information on the Official Statistics Code of Practice web-site.
Lead Statistician - Peter Ferrett, SEPA
User statement
Data on waste generation and management are collected to support policy development and monitor policy effectiveness, particularly the commitments in Making Things Last - A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland, and Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030. The data contribute to the UK Statistics on waste and are also used extensively by local and central government, the waste industry, researchers and the general public.
Feedback
We welcome feedback on the data from all users including how and why the data are used. This helps us to understand the value of the statistics to external users. Please see our contact details.
Revisions policy
SEPA provides information about any revisions made to this release and any associated datasets. Revisions could occur for various reasons, including when data from third parties are unavailable or provisional at the time of publishing or if there are subsequent methodological improvements or refinements. The figures are accurate at the time of publication. However, the data may be updated if further revisions are necessary. Normally these revisions will be published concurrent with the next release. There are no revisions to the 2023 incineration statistics since the previous publication.
Quality report
Data are taken from permitted waste site returns submitted to SEPA. Further information on the methodology can be found in the accompanying incinerated waste quality report
Enquiries
Enquiries on this publication to: SEPA Communications Department: media@sepa.org.uk
For further contact details please see contact details.
Pre-release access
Pre-release access was made available to relevant persons five working days prior to publication in accordance with The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008.
Besides analytical staff involved in the production and quality assurance of this publication, the following post holders in SEPA and the Scottish Government were given pre-release access up to 5 days before release:
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy
Scottish Government Special Adviser x 1
Scottish Government Analyst x 3
Scottish Government Policy Official x 13
Scottish Government Communications Official x 2
Zero Waste Scotland Communications Official x 8
Zero Waste Scotland Policy Official x 4
SEPA Policy Official x 6
SEPA Communications Official x 10
SEPA Analyst x 4
Glossary of terms
Hazardous Waste – waste with hazardous properties which may render it harmful to human health or the environment. Hazardous waste is also called Special Waste in Scotland as defined in the Special Waste Regulation 1996.
Waste incinerated by co-incineration – wastes used as a fuel and incinerated at an incineration facility in which the main purpose is the generation of energy or production of material products (e.g. cement) and which uses waste as an additional fuel.
Waste incinerated by disposal - wastes incinerated at an incineration facility where the energy efficiency has not been demonstrated to meet the R1 criteria specified in the EU Waste Framework Directive.
Waste incinerated by recovery - wastes used as a fuel to generate energy and incinerated at an incineration facility where the energy efficiency has been demonstrated to meet the R1 energy efficiency criteria specified in the EU Waste Framework Directive.
Waste incinerated - Waste from all sources (i.e. from commercial, industrial, construction and demolition and household sources) that is incinerated in Scotland. Includes waste incineration by recovery, waste incineration by co-incineration and waste incineration by disposal.
Waste categories - Definitions of the waste categories used within this report can be found in Annex I (Section 2) and Annex III (table of equivalence) of the EU waste statistics regulations
Incineration by recovery is where wastes are used as a fuel to generate energy and the energy efficiency has been demonstrated to meet the R1 energy efficiency criteria specified in Annex II of the EU Waste Framework Directive↩︎
The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 set out a number of provisions which help Scotland move toward the objectives and targets set out in the Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan and help transition toward a circular economy. These provisions include a ban on biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill from the 31 December 2025 which is implemented by amending the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003. For further information refer to the BMW landfill ban on SEPA’s web site.↩︎