Animal by-products specifically roadkill used to create biofuel: EIR release

FOI reference: FOI/19/00937  
Date received: 02/04/2019 
Date responded: 25/04/2019

 

 

1. Are animal by-products, specifically in the form of roadkill, being used to create biofuel?
2. How many Highways Authorities in Scotland use this method in disposal?

 

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations.  We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. 

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’.  Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.  We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes.  This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we do not have the information you have requested.  Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.  The reasons why that exception applies is that we do not use that method of disposal of roadkill. Our operating companies/agents have set requirements within their contracts. An example of this can be found in Schedule 7: Part 1: Section 4.35 in https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/35899/nw-combi.pdf .

 

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