11 May 2012

Letter calling on County to listen re waste

Protest last year
This week I wrote to Neil Carmichael seeking his support for MBT now that he has come out against an incinerator.  I hope he will be able to support this  - meanwhile I've also sent the letter below to local press.

Dear Sir/Madam,

It was great to read that Neil Carmichael MP has come out in opposition to a Mass Burn Incinerator at Javelin Park. His concern regarding the design and visual impact of a Mass Burn facility on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is shared by many including the Cotswolds Conservation Board and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. In 2007 the then Secretary of State made it a condition of the Warehouse Planning Permission granted for the site that no building should be over 15.7 metres.

Gloucestershire Green Parties have long argued that a Mass Burn Incinerator is not the answer to Gloucestershire's rubbish. There will be: no second chance recycling; a loss of at least 50% of black bin bag rubbish that is currently recyclable; a tonne of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere for every tonne of rubbish burnt; no available heat user for the huge quantity of low grade heat left over from the generation of electricity; and 24 hour a day pollution of the air we breathe.

To add insult to injury there are now no robust figures that the incinerator will save any money over its 25 year contract due to a reducing waste stream (25% below GCC predicted tonnages and that's in just four years!!). There is also growing evidence that landfill produces less Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions than incineration.

DEFRA now recognises that Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) produces lower GHG emissions than a Mass Burn Incinerator producing electricity. This is supported by the leading waste analyst, Eunomia. It seems clear that what we need is an MBT facility producing electricity and heat from anaerobic digestion, with an emphasis on plastic recycling and the inert non GHG producing residue to be disposed off by the most environmentally effective method.

At the recent Stroud District Council meeting there was cross-party support to call on the County to halt plans for an incinerator. It really is time the County listens.

Cllr Philip Booth, Stroud District councillor for Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward (Green Party)

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