Rubbish is
Surrey’s burning issue.
SURREY is running
out of space for its rubbish. With
three million tonnes produced in the county every year and recycling still not
having sufficient impact, landfill sites are near to overflowing.
The county is
lagging behind its neighbours in addressing the seriousness of the situation
and council tax payers could face hefty bills as the Government is threatening
to fine local authorities from next year if they exceed new landfill limits.
In a bid to find
a solution Surrey County Council has started public consultation on a new draft
planning framework for waste. It runs until 12 December 2005 and includes a
list of options the most controversial of which is the creation of incineration
plants across the county.
Hampshire already
has three plants and according to council member and environment spokesman
David Munro, some form of incineration process will be inevitable.
'We are working on a hierarchy
of solutions with the encouragement
of recycling a the top but other
measures will also be necessary and
thermal treatment plants are amongst them.'
Currently only 25
per cent of the county's waste is recycled but Mr Munro says the aim is to
increase this figure to 50 per cent with a target of 60-80
per cent by 2016.
"It is absolutely clear that in Surrey
far too much waste is going to
landfill and that must stop,' says Mr Munro.
Thermal treatment
is widely considered the most environmentally efficient method of dealing with
waste after recycling. At present there
are 15 plants operating in the UK but in other parts of Europe it is far more
widely used.
Energy con be
produced from burning waste. A typical
plant could provide enough energy to heat 8,000 homes for a year. But the plants tend to be large with tall
chimneys and conservationists fear their visual impact on the landscape. Also the fine fly ash produced by the process is toxic and has to be landfilled
as hazardous waste.
In Surrey seven
sites have been earmarked for a plant but no indication has been made of the
exact number needed. The preferred site
for the first is the Clockhouse Brickworks in Capel, near Dorking as it falls
outside Greenbelt land. Other locations
under scrutiny are in Guildford, Woking, Leatherhead, Trumps Farm, Longcross
and Wisley.