Massive Altens recycling centre fire ruled ‘accidental’ by investigation

By Cameron Roy

October 5 2022, 5:00 pm

Firefighters were at Altens recycling centre for five days. Image: Kenny Elrick / DC Thomson

An investigation into the massive fire at the Altens recycling centre has found it was accidental.

The investigation, which was led by the fire service, examined the incident that took place at Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Centre in the Altens area from July 8.

However, the exact cause has been reported as “undetermined”.

It took 118 hours to put out the blaze, with more than 100 firefighters attending the scene at its height.

Local residents lost their water supply as firefighters battled to regain control of the fire.

At the time of the incident, fire service area commander Matt Mason said: “It was a really challenging and complex incident.”

Built in 2017, the £27 million building was “state of the art” and designed to reduce divert 71,000 tonnes of Aberdeen’s waste from landfill every year.

Council chiefs said the plant would save residents around £6 million in landfill tax per year.

Due to the extensive damage to the site, it was revealed that staff were “redeployed” or put on paid leave, with waste being transported nearly 300 miles to Hartlepool in County Durham.

What effect has the Altens fire had?

The total cost and repercussions of the disaster are still to be fully understood.

Both Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City councils have encouraged people to continue recycling.

Aberdeenshire Council’s contract with Suez finished last month, and they now have a new contract for processing their mixed recycling material.

The full details of this contract have not yet been revealed.

There were 24 appliances from all over the north-east at the fire. Image: Chris Sumner / DC Thomson.

Meanwhile, negotiations are currently underway with insurance firms about the costs incurred due to the disruption and repairs.

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “The Altens East facility has been severely damaged and will require significant repair.

“However, in the long term, it is not anticipated that this will have a significant impact on bin collections.

“Collections have continued as normal and are not expected to change at this time. Contingency arrangements are in place to deal with both waste and recyclables and we can assure our residents that their materials continue to be recycled.”