Take a tour around Aberdeen’s rubbish visitor attraction

Bosses at Aberdeen’s newest visitor attraction are hoping residents don’t find their tour rubbish – even though it is, quite literally.

Recycling and recovery firm SUEZ today launched the education and visitor experience at its state-of-the-art £27 million facility.

It is hoped the new tours will let visitors see first-hand how rubbish is disposed of and help people think more about recycling and how the city’s waste is being put to good use.

To mark the introduction of tours at the facility in Altens, pupils from Tullos School’s Eco Group paid a visit today, along with representatives of Aberdeen City Council.

Colin Forshaw, SUEZ operations manager, said: “The SUEZ team here at Altens East are really excited about showing visitors the great work we do in putting the city’s waste and recyclable material to good use.

“Recyclable material from over 100,000 households across the city comes to Altens East to be processed, baled and sent on to be turned into new products.

“The facility is able to process more than 20 tonnes an hour of different recyclable material, such as card, newspapers, cans, plastics and glass.

“Altens East also takes residual black bag waste that has not or cannot be recycled – and gives it a new life as a valuable resource.

“The waste is shredded, baled and used to generate electricity in power plants and factories.

“This process ensures up to 70,000 tonnes of waste each year does not end up in landfill.”

The centre was opened in October 2017.

It was developed to be as green and sustainable as possible and generates enough energy from its solar panels to power seven homes for a year.

Councillor Phillip Bell, Aberdeen City Council operational delivery vice-convener, said: “The recycling plant is a fascinating place to visit as it really brings home what happens to your recycling materials after you’ve put them in your wheelie bin.

“We are committed to encouraging people to recycle as much as possible and the plant enables us to provide a recycling collection service that is easy for residents to use and at the same time ensures we maximise the quantity and quality of materials for recycling.

“The education and visitor experience is a fantastic resource, which will help visitors to understand what happens in the process, and I’d urge people to come along and see for themselves.”

The new visitor experience has also been designed to align with the curriculum in schools and has SQA accreditation.

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SUEZ recycling and recovery UK’s chief executive officer David Palmer-Jones said: “The facility will be open to residents, schools and groups who are eager to learn about what happens to the city’s recyclable and non-recyclable material.

“SUEZ is very proud to play its part in helping the United Kingdom achieve a circular economy.”

Anyone looking to visit the centre is asked to email MRFTours@aberdeencity.gov.uk