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Study says no scope for waste on trains
Page 17
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A TWO-YEAR research project into waste transport in Scotland says the opportunities to switch from road to rail are limited.
Gavin Scott, regional policy manager for the Freight Transport Association, predicted this outcome before the £150,000 study began. But he adds:"Nobody loves consultants but until something has been measured properly you can't really go on your gut instinct."
More than 15 million tonnes of waste are moved in Scotland every year and less than 1% is currently moved by rail or on water. The research, by transport consultancy TRL, shows that the maximum amount of waste that could be economically transferred from road to rail is just 2.3%, with another 0.6% for the waterways.
Scott, a member of the project steering group, says: "We have said that unless there is areal fiscal hammering of road transport and we went to five waste 'super sites' there was unlikely to be an awful lot of opportunity for modal shift."
The research was funded through a scheme that uses landfill tax credits.