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from Recycling & Waste Management News |
Celebrations as incinerator plans dropped
Incinerators
under review, says council leader
Expert - 'No incinerator design can
remove dangerous nanoparticles’
County council approves Capel
incinerator
Living in a
world without waste
Environment Agency - News Release
Initiative
to reduce organic waste sent to landfill.
MP slams incinerator move as 'arrogant, outrageous’.
________________________________________________
Councils cheat charities over waste
________________________________________________
The
Institute for Public Policy
November
2006
________________________________________________
letsrecycle.com
Local Authority News
Wednesday
30 August 2006
SITA begins recycling site upgrades in Surrey
________________________________________________
letsrecycle.com
Legislation News
Tuesday
29 August 2006
Think tanks demand
"pay as you throw" on household waste
________________________________________________
letsrecycle.com
Local Authority News
Thursday
6 July 2006
Surrey agrees changes to
PFI waste contract
________________________________________________
Action
group vows to fight ‘inevitable’ incinerator siting.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Chinese
demand turns rubbish to riches
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
WRAP proves
recycling is best for environment
________________________________________________
Temperature rises over waste disposal policy
________________________________________________
Waste Industry
misleading public over
________________________________________________
Hampshire EfW
plants topped up with recycling centre waste
________________________________________________
Surrey’s waste experts called to
comment
________________________________________________
How long does it take Britons to
fill a swimming pool with rubbish?
________________________________________________
Waste
Strategy 2006 to rethink non-municipal waste and EfW (18.01.06)
________________________________________________
Waste incineration set to rise
________________________________________________
Peterborough
councillors reject million-tonne incinerator
________________________________________________
Surrey county council risks losing
£85.5 million in PFI credits
________________________________________________
Thirty-five reasons why Maui
shouldn’t build an incinerator
________________________________________________
Rubbish is Surrey’s burning issue
________________________________________________
Pensioner feels compelled to urge people to resist
incinerator proposal
________________________________________________
letsrecycle.com Local
Authority News
Bristol in bid to revolutionise city recycling services
________________________________________________
NEW TARGETS FOR PACKAGING WASTE
________________________________________________
Group formed to fight Waste Plant on Heather Farm
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Surrey
Advertiser
Friday 30 September 2005
Waste campaign takes to the road
A ROAD show encouraging shoppers to
limit their household waste will be visiting supermarkets and shopping centres
across the county from Monday.
This is the second phase of Surrey
County Council's waste campaign; It's About Time, aimed at promoting
sustainable shopping.
Staff will be on hand in various
locations including the Friary in Guildford, and Sainsbury's,
Burpham to show the public how to “shop
smart” as well as urging onlookers to do just one thing to help make a
difference.
Reusable cotton bags, a sustainable
shopping guide and other information will also be available to help inspire
people to get started with recycling.
Marianne Cole, Surrey County Council's
waste projects officer, said: "We are visiting supermarkets and shopping
centres with It’s About Time to continue to encourage Surrey residents to
firstly stop and think about the waste they create and then to raise awareness
of how we can all change our behaviour."
“'Shopping smart' is set to help reduce
the 580,000 tonnes of household waste created each year in Surrey. Nearly 80% of the
average household bin is reusable, recyclable or compostable. We can
offer a host of tips on how the public can truly help their local and global
environment."
For further information, visit – www.surreywaste.info
© Surrey Advertiser Group
________________________________________________
New package to help councils manage
waste more effectively
________________________________________________
Burma Drive Recycling Centre Opens in
East Hull
Was this
GAIN’s aspiration for Slyfield???
________________________________________________
Awkward squads
Unfunded, unsung
and unloved they may be, but local groups fighting toxic waste have become
strong national and international networks
________________________________________________
Cancer village fights for justice
over incinerator
Senior French officials face toxins inquiry. ________________________________________________
BBC Radio 4 - Costing the
Earth
The best meal you'll never have!
In the UK, a shocking 30-40% of
all food is never eaten. In the last decade the amount we binned went up by
15%. Every year each of us throws away over £400 worth of food - that's £20
billion pounds overall, enough to cover the cost of everyone's council tax.
________________________________________________
Council
denies failing to carry out
a
'credible consultation' on waste
________________________________________________
A ‘
failure of democracy’ over incinerator plans?
________________________________________________
Planning
supremo issues warning
to
councils on waste plants ________________________________________________
Landfill
firms face burning questions
_________________________________________________
SITA UK withdraws plans for
Aberdeen incinerator
_________________________________________________
UK 'must catch up on recycling'
_________________________________________________
Targets ‘hamper recycling effort’
_________________________________________________
Recycle or count the cost –
councils warned
_________________________________________________
The Dorking Advertiser
Thursday 16 September 2004
County's new chief executive praises its
record on services
A new chief executive has been appointed by Surrey County
Council.
Dr Richard Shaw will join from Oxfordshire County Council.
He previously held roles at the Department for Environment
and at Surrey County Council, where he was director for environment for four
years.
Before this he worked in the teaching profession.
Dr Shaw will take up the role subject to
ratification of the appointment at a special council meeting on September
21.
He said "Surrey is a forward thinking
authority which has an excellent reputation for delivering services. I look
forward to working with the talented team of staff and councillors to maintain
and improve the good work being done for the people and communities of
Surrey".
Dr Shaw will succeed Paul Coen, who will leave Surrey at the
end of the year after nine years service. He is taking over as chief executive
at Essex County Council.
Dorking Advertiser
Thursday 29 July 2004
Regional assembly chairman
makes it a treble
The chairman of the South East England
Regional Assembly (SEERA) has been re-elected for the third time.
Councillor
Nick Skellett, leader of Surrey County Council, was re-elected at the
assembly's plenary meeting at Gatwick last week.
Mr
Skellett said: "As we enter this vital stage in the preparation, of the
South East Plan, a vision for the region through to 2026, it is very important
that we have continuity.
"I'm
very pleased that the members have shown their support of my chairmanship.
Mr Skellett has been leader of Surrey
County Council since May 1997 and a Conservative
councillor since 1993.
Don
Turner, Labour councillor for Brighton and Hove City Council, who sits on the
assembly's executive committee and the regional housing board, was also
re-elected as deputy chairman of the assembly.
He
said: "I am delighted to be given this opportunity to continue the work we
have started and look forward to meeting the forthcoming challenges.
"I'd
like to thank my colleagues in the assembly for their continued support."
Janet Keene of the South East Regional
Trade Unions Congress (SERTUC) became a
Vice-chairman, representing economic
partners, and Ian Chisnall a vice-chairman, representing social and
environmental partners.
They join existing vice-chairmen
Councillor Cec Tallack (Lib-Dem), and Councillor Alan
Hopkins
(Ind) on the assembly's board.
Guildford Times
w/e Saturday 5 June 2004
GAIN keeps heat on incinerators
MEMBERS
of the Guildford Anti-Incinerator Network (GAIN) have criticised the South East
England Regional Assembly (SEERA) for continuing to back incinerators as the
best way of solving the region's waste problems.
The
pressure group has delivered its written response to the amended regional
planning guidance produced by SEERA, criticising the organisation for putting
forward proposals that could lead to up to 23 incinerators across the South
East.
Colin
Matthews, chairman of GAIN, said: "It is shocking that SEERA is still
advocating this outdated and unnecessary technology. "Residents clearly
want an incinerator-free approach based on recycling and composting, which
SEERA’s own waste strategy confirms is feasible."
GAIN
criticises SEERA’s waste policies for including waste imports from London and
said incineration is unpopular because of concerns over dioxin and particle
emissions, the landfilling of hazardous ash, poor safety controls and the
burning of resources, which could be reused, recycled or composted.
Mr.
Matthews said: 'There have been more than 81,000 objections to incineration in
Surrey alone and yet SEERA is claiming public: support for incineration based
on the misinterpreted findings of a MORI survey involving just 800 people from
across South East England."
He added:
'Surrey residents are in a strong position to influence SEERA because Cllr Nick
Skellett, leader of Surrey County Council, is its chairman. Also, the officers working to impose
incineration are based at SEERA’s headquarters in Guildford.
David Payne, regional planner at SEERA said: "The
assembly needs to address the South East's waste problem before it becomes
unmanageable. Failure to do so
will bring the risk of increasing financial penalties.
"Although
people are recycling more and more, which is encouraging, we need to provide
for alternative ways to manage our waste that cannot be recycled.”
Waste Management World Magazine
March-April 2004
Landmark Toxics Treaty to Become Law
From May this year, an international ban on
Persistent Organic Pollutants or 'POPs' will come into force. France became the
50th signatory of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in
February this year, enabling the treaty to enter into force later in the
spring. As a result, 11 of the 12 chemicals outlined in the original Convention
will be banned, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and several
pesticides. There are provisions to add further chemicals to the list in
future, and such expansion will be listed at the first Conference of the
Parties to the Convention, taking place in Uruguay early next year.
The US is still absent from the list of parties to the Stockholm
Convention; although it signed the treaty in May 2001, there remains
considerable disagreement about how to amend existing laws to implement it.
Legislation proposed by the Bush Administration would create burdensome new
administrative and cost-benefit requirements, complicating the regulation of
any chemicals added to the treaty later. Environmental and public health groups
have expressed their desire to get the US 'on-board' with the Convention, but
to do so in a way that fully and effectively implements the treaty.
National
Center for Independent Information on Waste
WASTE
INCINERATORS PROVOKE THE BIRTH OF DEFORMED BABIES
SCC Resolution on Capel Incinerator Plan Quashed By High
Court
Having
been denied a Public Inquiry, the Capel Action Group opposed to municipal
waste incineration was this week given its long-awaited Judicial Review of a Resolution
of the Surrey County Council Planning and Regulatory Committee, passed on 6th December 2001, to
grant planning permission for the construction of a 110,000 t.p.a.
mass-burn, municipal-waste incinerator near Capel on land classed as
Countryside Beyond the Green Belt.
The Resolution to grant
planning permission was confirmed to be legally flawed and has been quashed by
the High Court.
A
determining factor for the judge was that the proposed site had no previous
waste use. It is a former mineral working (clay pit). SCC should not have
supported the building of an incinerator on such a site.
Full details of the judgement and
its implications for any further proposals to build incinerators near
Capel, elsewhere in Surrey or beyond are expected soon.
Attention News
Editors 1st July
2002
For immediate release
THAMES WASTE NOT TO APPEAL EFW DECISION
Thames Waste
Management Ltd (TWM) has decided not to appeal the refusal to grant planning
permission for its proposed Integrated Waste Management Centre at the Slyfield
Industrial Estate, Guildford.
Surrey County Council
refused planning permission in December 2001. Under the rules covering planning appeals. TWM had until 8th
July 2002 to determine whether to appeal to the Government.
Brian Howard, Managing
Director of TWM said,
"We were
naturally disappointed when planning permission was refused. However, the planning process
demonstrated that in many ways the Slyfield site is technically suitable for
waste management activities.
"It is clear that
there are not enough waste management facilities in Surrey to deal with the
ever increasing volume of waste being produced in the county, or to meet the
Government's targets for diversion of waste from landfill. We will maintain a keen interest in the
provision of waste management services in the county. When it is clear what facilities are needed, the development
potential of the Slyfield site will be re-considered to see what part it could
play."
ENDS
For further information contact Ruth Roll on Tel 01327 844074 or Fax
01327 844075.
Occupation of Basingstoke
Incinerator
Dateline: Monday 17th June, 2002.
Greenpeace, together with
an alliance of anti-incineration activists from all over Britain, have stopped
construction of the Chineham incinerator near Basingstoke.
At approximately 6:30am
this morning, some 100 protestors representing anti-incineration campaigns from
all over Britain, took direct action as part of a global protest against
incineration, by moving onto the Chineham incinerator site en-masse. Three
separate groups of volunteers then climbed to the top of the incinerator and
occupied the roof-tops, unfurling a colourful selection of banners along the
north face of the site, bearing a range of anti-incinerator messages.
Some protesters strapped
themselves into cargo nets, suspended from the unfinished third roof. Other
protesters climbed crane equipment and parts of the building substructure.
Others even chained themselves to fixtures and railings.
Shortly after 8:00am,
Greenpeace issued a Press
Release. In it, Greenpeace stated that the
Chineham incinerator is just one of of 43 incinerators currently under
construction or in the planning stages, throughout Britain. They point out that
if the incinerator opens, it will shower the people, animals and farmland of
Hampshire with hundreds of toxic chemicals every day, contaminating local food
such as milk and farm crops. These chemicals include heavy metals such as
arsenic and cancer-causing dioxins - the most poisonous chemicals known to
science. One in three of us already takes in more dioxins that the Governments
own scientific advisers say is safe.
The news that Greenpeace
had chosen the Chineham incinerator site for the national day of action was
welcomed by the BBAC.
'As today is Global
Anti-Incineration Day, the BBAC and its supporters had planned to visit the
site in the afternoon, to show our concern over the massive size of the
Chineham incinerator and to voice our continuing opposition to this ridiculous
development', said Chris Tomblin, chairman of the BBAC and it's principle
spokesman.
'We believe the
application process to be fundamentally flawed and we continue to voice our
very real health concerns regarding this application. Chineham previously had
an incinerator for over 20 years, which is widely believed to be responsible
for the contamination of soil with heavy metals and a background dioxin level
higher than the most industrialised parts of large cities such as Birmingham'.
'Since the old
incinerator was closed in 1996 for violations of EU emission standards, the
housing development in Chineham has been greatly expanded, with the bulk of new
residents being families with very young children. Hampshire County Council has
even sanctioned the building of a new primary school less than half a mile from
the incinerator site; a decision that defies common sense and makes a mockery
of the concept of best practice.'
Protesters point out that
a wide range of scientifically-proven alternatives such as industrial
composting, together with more aggressive recycling campaigns render the idea
of incineration as outdated, dirty, dangerous and in the long term, far more
costly. They also point out that the mere presence of incineration facilities
such as the one being built in Chineham will discourage further recycling
initiatives, since clauses in the contract between Hampshire County Council and
Onyx make the council financially liable for any shortfall in incineration
throughput. 'The only problem with these alternatives is that they don't allow
companies like Onyx to make huge profits at our expense', one protester
commented. Another protester echoed this sentiment by wearing a T-shirt which
read: "Only when the last tree is
chopped down, the last river polluted and the last fish taken, will we realise
that we can't eat money".
Basingstoke police,
responded fairly promptly to the action with the first police appearance on
site occurring at approximately 7:30am. During the next 6 hours police
increased their presence but made no attempt to remove protesters, though they
did attempt to restrict site access to both the media anti-incinerator campaigners
on the ground. The mood between police and protesters remains good-natured
however and as of 2:30pm no arrests have been made.
Construction workers on
the site watched bemused from the sidelines, refusing to enter the site. Others
watched the unfolding of events from inside the compound but took no action to
move the protesters on. Shortly after 11:30am the bulk of the construction
staff, realising that they would be unable to continue work, abandoned the
construction site and withdrew to the car park.
Just after 1:00pm,
Greenpeace activists unfurled a huge skull & crossbones banner over the
west face of the construction site to the delight of campaigners on the ground
and in full view of the media representatives present.
No spokesman from
Hampshire Waste Services, the division of Onyx responsible for the construction
of the Chineham incinerator was available for comment. Hampshire Waste Services
have been criticised by the BBAC and local residents for their handling of the
early viability studies on behalf of the Hampshire County Council, which many
local residents believe constituted a conflict of interest and for their
alleged failure to properly address health and safety issues in their
application to operate the new incinerator (which has yet to be approved), made
to the Environment Agency.
'We hope that today's
action will be the first step in mobilising the general public to turn their
backs on the whole concept of incineration, in favour of more sustainable and
cleaner alternatives to the whole issue of municipal waste disposal', said one
protester who added: 'it's not a matter of being a NIMBY...we don't want to see
this in ANYONE'S back yard'.
The occupation of the
Chineham Incinerator site continues...
Groups represented at the Chineham Incinerator
Action
· Action for a Sustainable
Bradford
· Ban the Burn
· Communities Against
Toxics
· Derby Against
Incineration
· Guildford Against
Incineration
· Hull Against the
Incinerator
· London Against Incineration*
· Reigate Community Waste
Action Project
· Sandwich Action Group for
the Environment
· Stop the Incinerator
Campaign
·
Zero Waste Alliance
Greenpeace says,
"Ban the Burn"
Ankara,17June2002
From the highest point in Turkey's capital, Greenpeace
activists unveiled a message for the Government of Turkey. Five activists
from Holland, Lebanon, and Turkey abseiled down the 127 meter high Atakule
tower and hung a 150 square meter banner that read, "Ban the Burn".
The action in Ankara is part of the global actions in 52 countries against
incineration technologies and coincides with the opening of the Stockholm
Convention in Geneva which aims to eliminate the world's most toxic chemicals
called persistent organic pollutants (POPs). (1)
During
the action in Ankara, Greenpeace lawyers filed a lawsuit in Adapazari against
the Ministry of Environment demanding that they cancel the operation permit of
the Izmit Hazardous and Clinical Waste Incinerator in Izaydas. (2) Residents of
Alikahya who face health hazards and displacement from their homes due to the
operation of the Izaydas Clinical and Hazardous Waste incinerator were on hand
to lend support to the Greenpeace actions. (3) They commented that they have
already been victims of the toxins emitted by the incinerator and want the
government to take action against the polluters.
"The
Minister of Environment, Fevzi Aytekin, legalised a dirty technology by
granting a license of operation to
zaydas. This contradicts his 1998 letter sent to all the governors
in Turkey stating that incineration is unsafe and expensive and that Turkey
should move to other cleaner technologies. (4) We demand that the Minister
cancel the permit and pass a national ban on all incineration in Turkey,"
said Banu Dokmecibasi, Toxics campaigner for Greenpeace Mediterranean.
To
underscore its point, Greenpeace released a report on alternative technologies
for hazardous waste disposal called, "Learning Not To Burn", prepared
by the Chemical Weapons Working Group and Citizens Environmental
Coalition.
The report looks at the alternatives to incineration technologies and gives
case studies to back up their call for safer disposal of hazardous wastes. (5)
Incineration
technology is shifting to clean solutions in many countries due to the hazards
they create. The ebanese climber, Firas Fayad, who joined the action in Ankara
said "We have been facing the problems created by
incineration
in Lebanon but after a campaign led by Greenpeace to ban incineration led to
the closure of two operating
incinerators in 1997 with a clear statement of the MoE that incineration is not
a solution to the waste problem. We have an international treaty now which when
implemented, end the age of polluting incineration".
"The
Ministry should understand that incineration is not a solution to waste
problem. It allows industries to ignore their responsibility to safely dispose hazardous wastes by
burning it, instead. Today's meeting in Geneva will be an opportunity for
Turkey to ratify the convention on eliminating POPs at the source" said
Dokmecibasi. (6)
Editor's
Notes:
1)
Under the United Nation's Environmental Programme's Stockholm Convention, the
world's leaders agreed to eliminate some of the most toxic chemicals in the
environment called persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The international
treaty aims to eliminate all POPS and lists twelve chemicals for priority
action, the so-called 'dirty dozen'. The dirty dozen include
intentionally produced chemicals such as pesticides (DDT) and PCBs, as
well as by-products such as cancer-causing dioxins and furans that are released
by industries that produce chlorinated chemicals, such PVC plastic, and
from waste incinerators. A briefing paper on the Stockholm Convention is available upon request.
(2)
In January 2001, Greenpeace obtained ashes from the incinerator and had them
scientifically analysed. The
results established the presence of highly carcinogenic chemicals such
as dioxins and furans which are targeted
to be
eliminated at source by the UNEP Stockholm Convention. The Greenpeace report of
the analyses is available from the Greenpeace Mediterranean Office.
(3)
16,000 people living next to the incinerator will be directly affected by toxic
emissions. A letter from the Ministry of Environment has already ordered
the evacuation of all communities living within a three kilometre radius of
the Izmit incinerator. This
affects the communities of Alikahya (1 km away) and Solaklar villages (700
meters away). A copy of the official letter sent to the Alikahya
Municipality by the Ministry of Environment is attached.
(4)
A copy of the official declaration is available from the Greenpeace office.
(5)
The summary and the original of the report is attached.
(6)
The Minister of Environment, Fevzi Aytekin, signed the treaty in May 2001 after
Greenpeace blocked the operation
of the Izaydas incinerator for two days and demanded that the Minister sign the
treaty and make a clear
statement
about incineration in Turkey. The treaty was signed by 141 countries including
Turkey and ratified by 9 countries.
For more
information:
Banu
Dokmecibasi, Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace Mediterranean in Turkey: 0532 263
11 14.
Tolga Temuge
in Istanbul, Campaigns Director: 0533 214 87 76.
Greenpeace
Mediterranean Office in Istanbul: 0212 292 76 19-20
GOVERNMENT REFUSES CONSENT TO
EXTENSION OF THE EDMONTON ENERGY FROM WASTE POWER STATION
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Protesters close down incinerator
_________________________________________________
Dundee PFI Incinerator goes up in smoke
DOUG MORRISON and SHARON WARD
RECEIVERS are expected to be called in this week to Dundee's
high profile waste-to-energy plant in what will be the first failure of a
public and private sector project in Scotland.
It is understood that the main stakeholders in the stricken
£342m incinerator plant at Baldovie were preparing this weekend to pull the
plug on the project, which has never been fully operational since its
launch two years ago.
The collapse of the Dundee Energy Recycling Ltd (DERL)
incinerator will be a major embarrassment for Dundee City Council, an equity
investor in the project, which had hailed it as pioneering solution to the
city's energy requirements.
Key investors in DERL as well as representatives from Bank
of Scotland and the Prudential, which provided loan finance for the joint
venture, held a fraught meeting last week to determine the project's fate.
Sources in Dundee say construction group Balfour Beatty, a
20% shareholder in DERL, has become increasingly isolated from the rest of the
investors because of its role in building the Baldovie plant.
Balfour Beatty was co-developer of the incinerator with
Kvaerner but the British-Norwegian engineering group's involvement in the
project cease when parts of the group were acquired by Australian investment
group Macquarie in October 1999.
It is understood that at last week's meeting Balfour Beatty
was given a Friday ultimatum, later extended to tomorrow, to come up with a
solution to the plant's major technological problems. Balfour Beatty refused to
comment.
However, sources in Dundee say it is now inevitable that
receivers will be brought in by Bank of Scotland and the Prudential to conduct
an independent review of DERL.
With conventional companies receivers attempt to preserve or
sell the business as a going concern. But DERL's public and private sector
status will likely involve receivers examining first whether the technology can
be made to work and whether more money needs to be pumped into the
project.
John McAllion, Labour MSP for Dundee, was dismayed to hear
of the problems facing the plant.
He said: "We can't let this close, there's nowhere else
to deal with the city's waste. It's a disgrace that the problems at the
incinerator have been swept under the carpet. Everything has to be brought out
into the open. This is far too important and I would like to hear all the
implications of the recent setbacks, instead of being fed cover-up
stories.
The scheme was the first of its kind in Scotland to be set
up as a joint venture between a local authority and the private sector.
Dundee council owns 40% of the equity, with 20% held by
Balfour Beatty, 20% by Macquarie Infrastructure Investments and the remainder
owned by Barclays Capital.
The Dundee scheme differs from full-scale private finance
initiatives in which an entire project is handed over to the private sector for
design, build, ownership and operation on behalf of the local authority or
public sector body.
ScottishPower, one of the original partners, withdrew after
the plant failed to get government funding under the Scottish Renewables
Obligation, a government energy policy to encourage and subsidise non-fossil
fuel forms of energy.
The Dundee project has been dogged by delays and technology
problems, exacerbated by two fires on site since its opening. There have also
been complaints made by Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups
about the level of emissions.
The failure of DERL is a major embarrassment for Dundee
council. It was forced to close its previous rubbish incinerator at Baldovie in
December 1996 because it failed to conform to the then newly introduced
European Union regulations on emissions
The current incinerator was given the go-ahead in October
1997 and completed two years later.
The intention was for it to burn up to 120,000 tonnes of
rubbish a year. Heat from the incinerator produced steam which in turn was to
drive a turbine generator with the aim of producing eight megawatts of
electricity, enough power for Dundee's street lights, schools and most of its
public buildings.
The plant has been dogged with controversy over
environmental and health concerns. In August last year, Scottish Executive
ministers ruled out an investigation into emissions from the waste incinerator
despite concerns about possible links with cancer cases.
Environmental campaigners wanted the Baldovie incinerator
shut down because of fears it is linked to higher-than-average rates of
non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Malcolm Chisholm, the then deputy minister for health and
community care, ruled out an inquiry, claiming the evidence was
inconclusive.
"Large-scale municipal waste incinerators are dirty,
dangerous and unnecessary," said Dr Richard Dixon of Friends of the Earth
Scotland. "They should be
banned, not subsidised."
The levels of dioxins emitted by Dundee's original Baldovie
incinerator breached legal limits before its closure in 1996. It now seems the
new plant is faced with the same problems.
Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups have
highlighted problems at the new Baldovie incinerator, resulting in 20 separate
breaches of safety limits reported to the Scottish Environmental Protection
Agency over emissions from the plant.
http://www.scotlandonsunday.com
_________________________________________________
Filthy Britain ‘a pollution failure’
__________________________________________________
Essex plans to build Incinerators
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Parliament misled over recycled
dioxins
British homes may be asked to use
eco-bins
Courtesy of the Surrey Advertiser
Group
Guildford
Times w/e Saturday 17 November 2001
|
Fired
up to stop burner |
Warm
welcome: The Incinerator Dragon meets Guildford MP Sue Doughty and members of
the town’s anti-incinerator group at the Westminster rally |
A
‘STOP Britain Burning’ lobby of Parliament in opposition to waste was joined by
Guildford campaigners last week. Experts, activists and politicians attended
the meeting in the new Portcullis House in Westminster to voice opposition to
the Government's energy from waste policy and the current rash .of incinerator
applications.
A
former Environment Agency employee attacked the quango for failing to protect
the public, and an economic adviser told how recycling could create jobs and
wealth.
There
were representatives from Guildford Anti-Incinerator Network (GAIN) and
campaigners from Essex, Newcastle, Swansea and other areas threatened with new
incineration plants.
The
MP for Guildford, Sue Doughty, was among, the speakers. She told the lobbyists: "The
people from GAIN will be the first to say that they did not trust politicians
and they had to do the thinking councillors should have done for the people of
Surrey, Hopefully we are going to get the answer we need. We as a community must work to make
sure that councils do implement the rules we need if we're not going to be
afflicted with incinerators in the future."
An
Environment Agency board member recently suspended because of his criticism of
the Government body, Alan Dalton, warned that communities could not depend on
such organisations to protect them from the health hazards posed by
incinerators.
"I
was effectively sacked for talking to residents about issues I was meant to
take up," he said. "They
did not seem to protect their staff or people around incinerators. We do, not even regulate properly,
which is a real insult to people.”
The
recycling consultant and author of the London Waste Strategy, Robin Murray,
spoke about the "tremendous potential' of good waste management in 'terms
of the economy, employment and the environment.
He
added: "The United States and Germany started out on a huge incinerator
project but had to change to recycling because of a movement like yours."
An
incinerator opponent from Newcastle, Val Barton, gave a dramatic warning about
the dangers of allowing an incinerator to be built in the community.
She
told fellow campaigners: "We were being told by the incinerator industry
that the ash was sterile, incinerated, safe. I found the ash had been used in allotments and public
footpaths,"
It
was later revealed that the ash was toxic and had been spread illegally behind
the back of the Environment Agency, she added. "I do not think we will ever find all the ash from the
incinerator. How can we trust this
industry and the Environment Agency?"
The
director of Friends of the Earth, Charles Secrett, closed the meeting with a
speech in which he urged consumers and investors to take environmental concerns
seriously.
The
lobby was called by Essex Friends of the Earth with the Lib Dem Colchester MP,
Bob Russell, and supported by MPs from each of the main political parties. It added further fuel to the fire of
Guildford campaigners, who have pledged to walk drive and take the train to
County Hall for the planning meeting on December 6, which will decide the fate
of the proposed Slyfield incinerator.