Scotland will transport as many as 100 lorries filled with waste across the border to England every day following the implementation of a landfill ban on December 31.
The Scottish Government's prohibition on burying black bin bag waste in landfills north of the border has created a significant challenge for disposal.
With Scotland lacking sufficient incineration facilities to handle the volume, councils and commercial waste firms have begun securing "bridging contracts" with English waste management operators.
Waste management specialist David Balmer calculated that Scotland would need "between 80 and 100 trucks minimum running seven days a week to take this material to a facility in England or abroad," he told BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme.
Some '80 and 100 trucks minimum' will need to be running seven days a week
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Industry experts estimate approximately 600,000 tonnes of Scottish waste will require disposal south of the border during the ban's initial year.
The majority of Scotland's surplus waste is anticipated to end up in English landfills rather than incinerators, as most English incineration facilities operate with minimal spare capacity.
Potential destinations for the Scottish waste include sites in Cumbria, Northumberland and Manchester.
The convoy of lorries carrying Scottish waste to England is expected to generate additional greenhouse gas emissions, prompting criticism of its environmental impact.
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The Scottish Conservatives have questioned "what the point is in introducing this ban if it is still going to result in so much waste just being shipped south of the border".
Gillian Martin, the SNP's climate action and energy secretary, defended the policy, stating: "The positive environmental impact of stopping landfills far outweighs any impact of any temporary measures to export" the waste across the border.
She emphasised that "landfill produces methane, which is a particularly potent gas" that is "vastly responsible in the short and medium term for warming up the planet".
The Scottish Government initially scheduled the biodegradable waste landfill ban for January 2021, but postponed it by five years following warnings from industry leaders about inadequate preparation.
Martin confirmed there are plans for more incinerators
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At that time, concerns emerged that one million tonnes of waste would require disposal beyond Scotland's borders, with most simply relocated to England.
The delay triggered a surge in incinerator construction plans, yet SNP ministers subsequently restricted new developments due to overcapacity fears.
Scotland currently operates with only eight incinerators, contrasting with England, which has 51.
Martin said: "The reason for the incineration gap is due to outside factors, particularly inflation and the cost of initially building them.
"We've got plans for more incinerators, with energy from waste schemes, to come on in the next year and over the next three years, so it is a temporary situation."
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