Internal figures released via FOI – dating from mid-November – show that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) was reviewing the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permits of 29 of the country’s 39 permitted landfill sites.
A PPC permit is the core environmental authorisation that allows higher‑risk sites – including landfills – to operate, but only under strict conditions designed to limit the pollution of air, land and water.
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The data shows that 29 of the landfills – spanning council‑run tips, private waste dumps and even an ash lagoon linked to a major power company – were investigated for being “non‑compliant” or “major non‑compliant”. The issues logged by Sepa range from emissions problems and unauthorised activities to basic failures in monitoring, record‑keeping, maintenance and day‑to‑day site management. In some cases, operators have already missed deadlines.
It comes as the Scottish Government has hailed falling landfill rates as proof Scotland is going “zero waste”, even though much of that rubbish is now being burned in new incinerators – a shift critics say swaps one form of pollution for another.
Meanwhile – as this data shows – there are serious concerns that many of the remaining dumps could be breaking pollution rules on their way out.
An investigation – of course – does not automatically mean that rules have been broken, and the Sunday National isn’t aware of any operators that have yet been found liable for offences in connection with these specific permits. Since the data is from mid-November, some of the sites may also no longer be under investigation.
But the cluster and scale of sites investigated – from the Highlands and islands to the central belt – has raised concerns with campaigners.
Climate group Friends of the Earth said it was “truly alarming” while Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell said the figures are “shocking”.
Who is breaching their pollution permits?
ENERGY giant Scottish Power is the operator for the Valleyfield Ash Lagoons on the Fife coast – vast ponds holding waste from the former Longannet coal-fired power station – which are being investigated by Sepa for being non-compliant for issues including “financial non-compliance, monitoring and recording and reporting”.
Councils are heavily exposed too: Fife has two sites being investigated, while Highland, Argyll and Bute, Moray and North Lanarkshire authorities also all have dumps flagged for issues including emissions breaches, unauthorised activity or basic management failures. Add in landfills run by waste management firm Biffa, recycling firm Levenseat, construction firm Geddes Group and others – the issue appears to be widespread.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s senior circular economy campaigner Kim Pratt said: “These sites require careful long-term planning to ensure the risk of pollution and harm is minimised and operators commit to this when they are given permission to run landfill sites.”
She added: “The Scottish Government must immediately increase funding to Sepa so that it is able to hold these companies to account and protect people and nature in Scotland. Any companies found to have broken the terms of their permits must be fined for putting people and nature at risk.”
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Mark Ruskell MSP, meanwhile, added: “If almost three-quarters of Scotland’s permitted landfill sites are failing to meet pollution rules, then it is clear that communities and our natural environment are being badly let down.
“Landfill is not just an eyesore. It can mean pollution, emissions and long-term damage to local areas. The bigger issue though, is that Scotland is still sending far too much waste to landfill in the first place.”
He added: “We need to move much faster towards a circular economy where materials are reused, repaired and recycled rather than buried in the ground.
“That is why the Scottish Greens want stronger incentives to cut landfill, including increasing the standard and higher rates of Landfill Tax, implementing the recommendations of the climate change review into Scottish Landfill Tax, and ensuring Landfill and Aggregates Taxes work together to reduce construction waste.
“If the revenue is there, we would also want to see the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund reopened, so that communities living with the impact of landfill can see direct investment in local environmental projects.”
A Biffa spokesperson said: “We work closely with environmental regulators to continuously improve standards and ensure we meet evolving regulations. As the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (EASR) have been updated in recent years, some older landfill sites – built and approved under previous frameworks – can be more complex to bring fully in line with modern requirements.
“We are reviewing recent changes to the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations and, where needed, are updating permits and associated documents so that all activities are captured within the latest regulatory framework. This helps ensure we remain compliant and continue to operate responsibly.”
A spokesperson for The Highland Council said: “The Highland Council reports and meets its obligations in respect of its authorisations and the management processes set out by the regulator, Sepa.
“All Scottish waste facilities operate under allocated authorisations which set out conditions for the operation of the sites. These conditions include aspects such as the reporting of data, monitoring information, acceptable waste quantities and operational activities. The conditions for any particular site is dependent on the type of operation.
“As a requirement of the authorisation, an operator is required to self-report where an event has occurred that is outside the parameters set out in these conditions (such as the breakdown of equipment).
“These self-reported events are referred to as ‘non-compliances’. They do not represent pollution occurrences but allow for the regulator and operator to recognise where additional management or resource are required and the extent of what this would be.
“Given the number of conditions and complexities of landfill operations, it is not uncommon for such events to be required to be reported.”
An Argyll and Bute spokesperson said: “We take compliance very seriously. For context, non-compliance can apply for various reasons, including readings from naturally occurring background levels of gases which could be produced by peat or impact of weather etc. There are dozens of conditions and limits that must be compliant, but if one test fails marginally, the whole site is considered non-compliant. When a non-compliance is discovered, management plans are in place to deal with it immediately. We work closely with Sepa throughout the year to ensure our landfill sites and household waste and recycling centres operate to a high standard and in compliance with our permits.”
A Moray Council spokesperson said: “The issue referenced was resolved in 2025. The site returned to full compliance shortly afterwards, and there are no current compliance concerns.”
All companies and councils mentioned in this article have been approached for comment.