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from
Recycling & Waste Management News |
Residents team-up to fight eco waste plant
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.