suffolk to go ahead with incinerator

Suffolk to go ahead with incinerator Suffolk Evening Star - Ipswich, England,
But there has still been no site identified for the incinerator which would burn waste and provide electricity for thousands of homes across the county. ...

Viridor Suffolk waste

Lackford Integrated Waste Management Facility Viridor Suffolk Waste...
the site as an integrated waste management. facility by creating a ... The development of the...
www.entecuk.com/downloads/pp_062.pdf

Allington Waste incinerator turned off indefinitely

A WASTE recycling plant has been shut down because of serious design flaws.

Allington Incinerator could be closed indefinitely after it was discovered an insulating lining in its furnaces is not able to cope withthe heat of the fires.It means that 5,000 tonnes of rotting rubbish will now have to be moved to a landfill site.

Kent Enviropower, which runs the recycling plant in Laverstock Road, admitted there is an issue with the insulating lining in the furnaces, which will have to be replaced. Cllr Tony Harwood (Lib Dem), cabinet member for the environment, said: "Obviously, the furnaces get very, very hot and it has done damage to the linings."I expect the heat has caused the tiles to expand and that has loosened them."Almost 5,000 tonnes of rubbish in bunkers at the site will now be sent to a landfill site near Canterbury because it will be unsuitable for burning by the time the plant reopens.

Paul Andrews, managing director of Kent Enviropower, said the company was going through a process of "testing and improving the facility".He believes the furnaces will be able to burn rubbish again when the plant eventually reopens, but it may not be able to generate electricity for a "considerable period".Kent Enviropower has been unable to confirm when the plant will be fully operational again.* For full story see the Kent Messenger.Report from Kent Messenger

Cardiff Officers are pushing their Council to incineration

• – and taking Newport, Monmouth, Vale of Glamorgan and Caerphilly with them. The report to the Env Scrutiny Cttee of 10 July shows dubious methods www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872,3250&parent_directory_id=2865&id=1509
  
  Recall the background
• Phil Sherratt as Chief Waste Officer in mid-2004 promised to get to grips with Cardiff’s low recycling record and increasing waste (4-6% per yr he said); he would end black-bag collection via wheelie bins plus a green bag for recyclables (but collected only once a month); he’d go for new landfill capacity, seeing Lamby Way filling up.
  
• Sherratt in 2005 advised Cardiff to go for refuse-derived fuel, with outlets at Lafarge Cement works, Tower Colliery incinerator, Torfaen’s ReChem site incinerator, etc.
• This would fit with the 2004 SE Region Waste Plan (www.sewaleswasteplan.org/) for maximising recycling/composting and MBT on the remnants, because RDF would be the product of MBT
• Sherratt advised dropping RDF as none of the outlets available. Switched attention to replacement landfill capacity, with Lamby Way fast filling up with high income from commercial waste [1]. Said takes 5 yrs to commission a new landfill, so they need emergency options.
• Consultants commissioned to report on landfill options, which (as expected) raised public opposition
• Sherratt having failed to meet recycling targets, dropped RDF plans and failed on replacement landfill gets promoted to chief Transportation etc. officer.
  
  Now Cardiff find they will have to pay £11 M landfill costs and forgo £3M commercial waste income per year. The report says the landfill TAX element is refunded by WAG. But as this is not guaranteed, the big costs are retained to make a costly incinerator look good.
• Abandon plans for a new landfill, despite admitting any strategy needs landfill [1]. The need is for 25% landfill post-treatment (eg. diversion from incineration and ashes produced in incineration), yet no mention made of this large quantity, nor the high costs of transport and dumping elsewhere, nor the proximity principle requiring landfill.
• Plan for 3 to 5 times the incineration capacity “needed”, 300-400 000 tonnes per year. This compares with 300 000 t/yr from the four (plus maybe 50 000 Caerphilly) half or more of which should be recycled, 20% food waste that should go for AD (Cardiff is buying in-vessel composting) so residual waste even on rough figures would be ~100 000 t/yr (unattractive for commercial incineration – the Viridor scheme talks of 500 000 t/yr [2]). Their models apparently include waste increasing by 1.5% per yr, on the basis that increases have been “in the recent past by as much as 1.5% in the past”! The “current requirements of the wider region” (para.49) tacitly admits they intend to import waste to their giant incinerator.
• claim that all the authorities are “delivering and proposing new options for high recycling and composting figures” (when Cardiff was bottom at ~10% [3]). WAG’s Capital Access Fund is conditional on good performance in recycling etc., hence this claim. The document claims not to understand what WAG’s 25% limit on incineration means (para. 35) – clearly means no more than 25% of the 350 000t plus growth.
  
• invite proposals to build a ‘facility’, but make MBT plus landfill impossible (or impossibly costly), by dropping plans for a new landfill on the excuse that it would take 5 to 10 yrs (yet the ‘facility’ is timed for 2013). In fact, the fall-back tipping option appears to be an “overtip” on Lamby Way, to which there were “no fundamental objections”.
  
• the impudent name “Prosiect Gwyrdd” is chosen on the basis that greenfields are not ‘consumed’ or methane produced (para. 26), with no mention of air pollutants and toxic ashes.
• the figures imply the VoG would have immense tonnages of untreated biol degradable waste (BMW) of 26 500 t (10 000t over limit) by 2013 – I suspect inflated or worst case by the Vale’s pro-incineration officer.
• no “maximum recycling” option has been considered, just a “do minimum” and pay fines at £200/t, yet clearly recycling is much cheaper (Newport WasteSavers are at ~£50 /t)
• with the biased options, incineration comes out “cheaper”, though still with a £20M /yr “affordability gap” (£3M from VoG). That “MBT” is a further ~£15M /yr is curious, as in other places (eg. Oxford) MBT came cheaper. It may be that the procurement outline was oriented to Hampshire’s (the infamous ‘Integra’) which has huge incinerators; or maybe that the bidder was required to transport MBT-product way out of S-E Wales.
  
  [1] the mid 2005 assessment (Env. Scrutiny Cttee 14 June) said “Cardiff will continue to require landfill capacity indefinitely for some proportion of its waste, regardless of what action is taken to process residual waste. … A replacement landfill facility will need to be in place and operational by the time Lamby Way is full.” “Regardless of which of the available technologies (for waste treatment) are adopted, it is likely that a residue of approximately 25% of current waste arisings will still require disposal at landfill.” Treatment options were: Incineration; Gas Pyrolysis; Anaerobic Digestion; MBT or BMT; Autoclaving; Composting.
  
  [2] On the previous Ocean Technical Glass site in Cardiff Bay. An industrial site with ‘clean’ business would now go for the dirtiest type. Battle lines drawn over £150m Cardiff incinerator LetsRecycle 15-06-2007
  www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=217&listitemid=8850
  [3] Cardiff’s policy agreement with WAG adopted the minimum targets in the SE Regional Plan with “at least 25% recycling/composting by 2006/7. In mid-2005, Cardiff projected 12% recycling and 8 % composting, so planned to fall short of the WAG-agreed target. They now talk of 30% in 2007/8, but not the 40% WAG-agreed target for 2009/10. The Council Leader Rodney Berman gives 50% by 2013 in his defence against the rush to incinerate (http://cardiffincinerator.blogspot.com/). Cardiff have made two bad choices – wheelie bins that are known to generate high amounts of waste, and collection plus machine separation of mixed recyclables, which is known to give high levels of contamination and discards.
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Information via WAG/Andy Rees 3 Sept 07
  The Capital Access Fund applications are being assessed this month (September) by his unit (ANNEX)
  The Minister is keen on increasing recycling to the maximum
• they are looking at the achievement in Flanders and may choose 70% recycling
• they say it’s essential not to create surplus incineration capacity and are looking closely at Cardiff’s 400 000 t/yr claim
• Cardiff could claim they intend to recycle incinerator bottom ash, if they limited toxic metals etc. (though this is inflexible as bottom ash may be reclassified as hazardous waste)
  
  Priority items for the Capital Access Fund are # AD plus collection system # auto-sorting of plastics
  
  Andy Rees is unsure about requiring a coherent plan that includes sufficient landfill capacity (for 10 or 20 yrs). Newport has ~15 yrs capacity at Docks Way for its own waste
  
  The Regional Waste Plan 1st Review
  A document for consultation will be published in 2007-08.In March 2006 the Members Steering Group agreed a document scoping the RWP 1st Review entitled ‘The Regional Waste Plan 1st Review – Content & Approach (777k)’, proposing two principal elements:• A Regional Waste Strategy which sets out a preferred mix of waste management / resource recovery technologies and capacities for managing the forecast arisings of all controlled waste streams.• A spatial element that guides the location of new facilities.
  
  The Regional Waste Strategy will be formulated by generating a number of alternative strategic waste management ‘Options’. The Options will then be assessed for their performance against various environmental, social and economic criteria using a Lifecycle Assessment tool that will feed into a wider Sustainability Assessment, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), a Health Impact Assessment (HIA)
  
  ANNEX – details of the Capital Access Fund, evaluation criteria and guidelines.
  
  RCAF/07/C
  ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION CRITERIA
  
  The following are the assessment and evaluation criteria against which applications will be scored.
  
  1 The proposal meets the aims of Wise about Waste, including its promotion of sustainable development (maximum 10%)
  
  2 The proposal meets one of the requirements below (maximum 25%).
  
  a. a plastics autosorter to sort plastic bottles, including plastic bottles from the municipal waste stream in Wales;
  b. vehicles, plant and equipment for the collection and treatment of food wastes, including municipal food wastes in Wales;
  c. capital work preparatory to the development of facilities that derive energy from waste – including support for procurement of capital assets up to a limit of £200k in any one case. Local authorities should clearly identify the revenue element that they are committing in support of procurement.
  
  3 For energy from waste facilities, estimated quantity of MSW the proposal will divert from landfill (as % of total municipal waste arising in the areas of all the collaborating LAs) (Maximum 20%).
  
  > 60% of total MSW (10%)
  40 to 60% of total MSW (15%)
  < 40% of total MSW (20%)
  
  4 For a plastic bottles autosorter/washing plant and for an anaerobic digestion plant, estimated quantity of each specific, relevant, waste stream to be diverted (as % of total of that waste stream arising in the areas of all the collaborating LAs). There must be a minimum of two collaborating LAs. (Maximum 20%).
  
  30 to 40% of the specific waste stream (10%)
  41 to 50% of the specific waste stream (15%)
  > 51% of the specific waste stream (20%)
  
  5 The proposal contains evidence that markets have been identified for the energy, recyclate or compost from the proposed facility. (Maximum 20%).
  
  Potential markets have been identified and quantified (maximum 10%)
  
  Markets have been identified and quantified and there is evidence of support for the application from potential customers (15%)
  Markets have been identified and quantified and there is evidence of commitment to contracts from potential customers (20%)
  
  6 The proposal includes all the funding required to develop the proposed facility. (Maximum 20%).
  
  A business case identifying potential funding sources, including eligible grants, loans and assets/finance held by the applicant (10%)
  
  A business case identifying confirmed funding sources, including eligible grants, loans and assets/finance held by the applicant (20%)
  
  7 Does the proposal include the co-management of municipal, industrial and commercial waste (in a State Aid compliant manner)? (If yes, 5%)
  
  8 Proposals must be State aid compliant and fit with a current scheme or block exemption. If a proposal does not, consideration will be given to notifying the proposal to the European Commission and a case needs to be made for the State aid proposed.
  
  CAF/07/D
  GUIDELINES FOR THE REGIONAL CAPITAL ACCESS FUND (RCAF)
  
  Purpose The Welsh Assembly Government will establish a Regional Capital Access Fund (RCAF) to support the procurement of waste management infrastructure by local authorities. This paper sets out the outcomes the Welsh Assembly Government wishes to achieve and the guiding principles for the fund.
  
  The provision of capital grant funding will help:
  · secure private sector investment
  · stimulate interest from private sector waste management companies including the community sector
  · lower the level of private finance borrowing and hence reduce interest payments (which are usually factored into gate fees)
  
  Objectives
  The Assembly Government’s objectives in relation to the RCAF are:
  · to ensure that the waste infrastructure necessary is provided to meet EC Directives and Assembly Government Waste Strategy targets
  · to ensure that the most sustainable solutions are delivered for the management of waste in Wales particularly in respect of municipal waste
  · to ensure that the most cost effective solutions are delivered at least overall cost to the public purse particularly in respect of municipal waste
  · to encourage and support collaborative working by local authorities in order to provide economies of scale and reduce costs for the management of municipal waste
  · to ensure as far as possible the co-management of municipal, industrial and commercial wastes in order to provide economies of scale and reduce costs for the management of municipal waste and provide sustainable and cost effective solutions for the recycling, recovery and disposal of industrial and commercial wastes
  · to operate a capital grant system to support and incentivise the further development of an efficient and effective waste management infrastructure in Wales, in line with EC State aid rules
  
  General guidelines for the Regional Capital Access Fund
  The following principles will guide the RCAF:
  · the development and operation of high technology waste management plants is a complex and highly skilled operation that is best performed by organisations with a long track record of developing and managing that particular technology
  · such experience and expertise is only provided by the private sector
  · funding under the RCAF will be available i) to private sector organisations or ii) to consortia of local authorities to award to private sector organisations for projects procured by the consortia by competitive tender
  · bids by local authorities for funding for projects should be made by a consortium (or designated lead authority on behalf of a consortium)
  · bids should be accompanied by a detailed implementation plan including outputs, contribution to landfill diversion targets, details of costs, funding arrangements, amount of grant required and reasons for the amount and details of the grant profile
  · grant paid via a local authority will drawn down by the consortium (or designated lead local authority) to be paid to the successful tenderer against agreed project milestones
  · Welsh Assembly Government will confirm in principle whether or not it can make grant available including confirming it is within the scope of the relevant State aid approvals (see below)
  · payments will be made quarterly in arrears by means of a standard invoice
  · grants will not be paid in advance of need
  · if grant is not drawn down in line with the profile in one year the grant for that year will be reduced. It is not usually possible to carry sums of grant over from one financial year to the next and grant not drawn down in any one year may be lost to the RCAF and to the project. It is at the discretion of the Welsh Assembly Government whether to increase the grant for the following year to compensate
  · grant will only be offered for projects which help to deliver local authority targets for municipal waste and meet the policies and priorities of the Wales Waste Strategy including EU landfill diversion targets
  · grant will only be awarded for projects which involve collaborative partnerships or joint solutions for groups of local authorities or serve more than one local authority area
  · in order to meet landfill diversion targets for 2010 priority will be given to projects for recycling and composting/AD of the source separated fraction
  · in order to accelerate landfill diversion of residual non-recyclable waste, and given that given that public funds will always be constrained, priority for grant will also be given to plant which addresses residual waste disposal including energy from waste
  · priority will also be given to projects with the potential capacity to deal with industrial and commercial waste
  · in addition to energy from waste plants some further example of projects which could attract capital grant support are set out in appendix A
  · the Welsh Assembly Government will enter into discussions with private organizations and local authority consortia about the availability of grant from the RCAF with immediate effect
  · standard Welsh Assembly Government grant terms and conditions including claw-back will also apply
  · the RCAF will be administered by the Waste Management & LEQ Unit, Department for Environment, Planning and Countryside, Welsh Assembly Government
  
  State Aids
  The Welsh Assembly Government must ensure that financial and other assistance it provides to organisations involved in economic activity is state aid compliant. Most direct capital support grant schemes for undertakings operating in the waste management market are likely to constitute State aid and will require the necessary Commission approval before the aid is granted, either by ensuring that it complies fully with an existing approved scheme or a block exemption or by notifying the aid separately to the Commission.
  
  Many of the existing European State aid rules are based on allowing (limited) aid to undertakings, in recognition of the failure of the market to deliver optimal solutions in specific activity areas. There may also be distinct market failures affecting the delivery of waste management activity in Wales that are not covered under the existing State aid regulations. Where such a market failure can be identified and evidenced, and it is considered appropriate to provide support to address that market failure, there is scope to notify such aid schemes to the Commission for direct assessment of compatibility under the Treaty.
  
  As a general principle, for aid to be deemed to compatible it must aim to induce an undertaking to do something they would not otherwise do under normal market conditions. The aid must be necessary to offset some economic, regional or structural handicap and must therefore be justified in relation to specific Community objectives. State aid should only be used when it is an appropriate instrument for meeting a well defined objective, when it creates the right incentives, is proportionate and when it distorts competition to the least possible extent.
  
  The capital grants will aim to:
  · provide direct investment in undertakings in support of developing the internal market for the provision of waste management activity
  · provide investment and incentives in support of specific market failures for example, where there is an uncertainty in the return of a specific type of new investment; the risks and costs associated with obtaining and using appropriate waste materials or the negative prejudgements with consumers of products made from recycled materials
  
  There is potential scope to provide support for a capital grant scheme for the development of waste management infrastructure and market in line with the following State aid cover
  · SME Block exemption, which allows aid to be given to small and medium sized enterprises towards investment in tangible assets
  · Regional Aid Block Exemption, which provides cover for transparent investment aid schemes to support new productive investments in Assisted areas
  · Extension of State aid N412/2005 (subject to WRAP, DTI and Commission agreement), a notified scheme established by WRAP, which provides cover for a capital grant scheme established to increase the recycling of waste by subsidising investments by private companies in recycling facilities where there is an identified market failure
  · Direct notification of a scheme or individual award of aid to the Commission for assessment and approval either under the Regional Aid Guidelines or directly under the Treaty as appropriate
  
  Further consideration will be given to the appropriate State aid cover and the administrative requirements necessary once the detailed delivery mechanisms for the grant support scheme are identified and confirmed. It will be essential for local authority consortia to discuss proposals at the earliest opportunity with Welsh Assembly Government.
  
  Funding for the Regional Capital Access Fund
  
  Funding for the RCAF was identified in the Sustainable Waste Management Grant (SWMG) letter for 2006-07 sent to all local authorities in July 2006. The fund is £7 million in 2007/08 and £9 million in 2008/09. In addition £1 million will be made available each year as part of the scheme to support local authority procurement work.
  
  Other Welsh Assembly Government Grant Schemes
  Other Welsh Assembly Government capital grant schemes to support the development of municipal waste management infrastructure (not including RSA/AIG) are:
  · the Waste Strategy budget – there are funds available for capital projects such as the Regional Compost R&D and Demonstration plants
  · Sustainable Waste Management Grant (SWMG) - paid annually to local authorities to support additional activity on recycling and composting (largely used for revenue support, but can be used for capital funding of facilities such as household waste recycling centres, composting plants or material recovery facilities)
  
  In respect of industrial and commercial waste, grants are available from the Materials Action Programme (MAP) for Wales. The MAP grant programme is run in Wales by WRAP under the terms of previously notified State Aid schemes.
  
  European Funding
  The draft Strategic Framework for Waste under the Convergence Fund 2007-2013 contains a key fund to provide capital funding. It is also proposed that the Competitiveness Fund will also be used to support waste management.
  
  Department for Environment, Planning and Countryside
  March 2007
  
  
  APPENDIX A
  PRIORITY PROJECTS FOR CAPITAL GRANTS
  The following projects are priorities for capital grant to reflect policy priorities within Wise About Waste.
  
  A plastics auto-sorter: a plastics auto-sorter is an essential strategic facility. A single auto-sorter can serve the whole of Wales, since the reprocessors are located in different parts of Wales, from which feedstock may be collected from clusters of local authorities. In addition to an auto-sorter, some washing is required to prepare the plastic for sale into the market.
  The strategic advantage of this is the creation of secure and stable markets for separated plastic polymers, which will encourage Welsh local authorities to recycle this material. It is the recycling of plastic bottles that will reduce the volume of waste collected from households more significantly than any other recycling (for the majority of households). This will greatly assist in helping the move to fortnightly collection of municipal wastes, since the issue of volume capacity will have been largely addressed.
  
  Anaerobic Digestion plants: two strategically located anaerobic digestion plants would be able to treat separately collected food wastes from the majority of Welsh local authorities. Evidence from, amongst others, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is that the most cost effective way of meeting composting targets is to separately collect food wastes (weekly) and to treat them in an AD plant, to recover energy. The digestate produced can be used for lower specification applications, eg silviculture.
  
  Providing treatment plants with a gate fee less than landfill gate fees is a key to encouraging this aspect of the waste strategy. AD is well placed in this respect because of the revenues from the sale of energy.
  
  Vehicles/receptacles for separate collection of food wastes: the treatment of food wastes is dependent upon a system of collection that can provide the food waste feedstock to the AD (and other) plants. Food waste collections can take place as part of weekly dry recyclable collection, as separate collection or co-collection with other wastes. To optimise the collection of food waste, new vehicles will be necessary to facilitate extensive weekly collections.
  
  Consultancy and preparation of thermal treatment facilities: it is very unlikely that any local authority will be able to spend money on thermal treatment or disposal facilities in the short term. However, consortia of local authorities are likely to be engaged in procurement, land acquisition, Environmental Impact Assessments, planning applications and other activities for such facilities. Provided that these activities, which are essential to progressing thermal treatment facilities, are capable of being classed as capital activities, then they will be an important aspect of the RCAF.

incinerator costs double

Exclusive by Jess Bauldry and Lawrence Marzouk

The construction costs of a controversial incinerator project have more than doubled from original estimates.A total of £145.7 million will now have to be paid by waste contractor Veolia just to prepare the site in Newhaven and to build the incinerator.Last night Brighton and Hove City Council agreed to help Veolia meet its financial burden by extending the life of the contract from 25 to 30 years. MORE

Councillors stage sit-in at incinerator meeting..

Sorry .. not here...news from else where

Councillors stage sit-in at incinerator meeting Sussex Express - Lewes,England,

LibDem councillors staged a dramatic sit-in after Tory councillors tried to throw them out of a meeting to discuss the Newhaven incinerator yesterday ...

Incinerator set for Suffolk Suffolk Evening Star - Ipswich,England,
Suffolk County Council is to go ahead with proposals to build an incinerator and power station to deal with residual waste which can not be reused, ...

MP lobbies county council over incinerator plans Aylesbury Today Bucks Herald - Aylesbury, England By Richard Hartley-Parkinson FEARS over proposals for an incinerator in Aston Clinton have been addressed in a letter to Aylesbury MP David Lidington. ...

Norfolk and Cambridgeshire are going for MBT

Going for MBT ...Norfolk and Cambridgeshire

Norfolk switched after they had approved an 'Energy from Waste Plant' (as incinerators are usually termed..greenwash) but found the opposition too hot. Cardiff Councillors take notice!!!

Norwich call for Ban on incineration

Call for blanket ban on incineration Norwich Evening News - Norwich, England,Norfolk County Council's Liberal Democrat group has reignited the long-running incinerator debate by calling for the authority to put a blanket ban on any ...

Ban the Burner Exeter

Say NO to the Exeter Incinerator, and NO to Landfill Say YES to MBT, and YES to Minimising Waste
Click here to place your Online Objection to the proposed incinerator
The Alternative to Incineration is MBT
Say NO to Landfill, and NO to Incineration. There is a better alternative which:
Emits less CO2 Increases Recycling Rates and still enables Devon to avoid Landfill Fines under the EU Landfill Directive. It is MBT (Mechanical Biological Treatment) in association with Anaerobic Digestion:

The Mechanical Part: An MBT plant will process the residual waste with various mechanical techniques to break up and separate into 3 streams. 1 - Metals, glass and plastics can be recovered increasing recycling rate; 2 - biological/organic material for further processing in an Anaerobic Digester, and 3 - stabilised landfill.

The Biological Part: The organic fraction is digested within a sealed tank with outputs of biogas which can produce electricity to run the plant and supply the national grid, and a soil improvement material which will allow Devon to meet its biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) allowance under the EU Landfill Directive.
The capacity of MBT facilities ranges from very small plants treating 10,000 tonnes/year or less, to large scale integrated facilities with capacities of over 200,000 tonnes/year. Capital costs have been estimated at around £8 million for a 50,000 tonnes/year plant. The number of MBT plants in the UK is increasing, with up to 15 local authorities likely to be employing the technology by 2010. On mainland Europe there are 80 MBT plants in operation in Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy.
MBT is more climate friendly than Incineration:



The table shows the net balance of greenhouse gas emissions for the MBT facility and an incinerator. They show the situation where the avoided electricity source is gas. The result is that for each tonne treated in the MBT facility, savings of the order 940kg per tonne CO2 equivalent can be realised.
Thus for a 60,000 tonne incinerator the total CO2 emissions from the incinerator will be 48,000 tonnes. But an MBT will actually reduce CO2 emissions by 8,000 tonnes. The differential is 56,000 tonnes of CO2. That is the climate cost of an incinerator.
A Sustainable Waste Strategy which includes all elements of the waste cycle:
We believe that the following integrated strategy is what we should be following instead of incinerating our waste.

1: Waste Minimisation
We should focus on minimising waste as a first priority. Despite much talk about this issue, it is just not happening. Indeed DCC are planning for an INCREASE in waste arisings of 50% over the next 30 years. Devon should be looking at reductions in waste of about 30% over the next 30 years. Bearing in mind that waste arisings have been reducing by 1% a year recently, this is not unrealistic.

2: High recycling rates
We should be recycling more waste. Devon’s target is actually quite good. (40% now, increasing to 65% by 2025). But it could be better. I think we should be able to get this up to 70% by 2025, and possibly 80% by 2035.
Note that the combination of the above two realistic changes to waste policy reduces the amount of residual waste in Devon by 2035 from 200,000 tonnes to 60,000 tonnes per annum. This would be suitable for 3 MBT plants; one in Exeter, one in South Devon, and another in North Devon.

3: Residual Waste Treatment
The Best Practicable Environmental Option for the residual waste is Mechanical Biological Treatment in conjunction with Anaerobic Digestion producing Biogas, Digestate and a small amount to Landfill. (i.e. no Incineration and no Refuse Derived Fuel)

4: Long term
Beyond 2050 we should be thinking of Zero Waste.
Click here to place your Online Objection to the proposed incinerator

Latest Update: December 2006
Web page updated by Maurice Spurway - Exeter Friends of the Earth
Return to Home

Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire form waste partnership

22-12-2006 The unitary authority of Milton Keynes has agreed a new long-term waste management partnership with Northamptonshire county council, it was announced today.
The two councils have signed a memorandum of understanding that marks the first step on the way to letting a major long-term waste management contract together.

Agreement: (seated) Northamptonshire's leader Jim Harker and Milton Keynes leader Isobel McCall with (standing, left to right) MK corporate director Brian Sandom, Defra's Ben Prynn, Northamptonshire head of waste Steven Bell and Defra's John Enright
Discussions have now started on a £500,000 project to develop a business case to form the basis of a contract procurement process. This is likely to take until October 2007, focussing on the potential benefits possible through the joint procurement of waste facilities.
The councils hope to achieve greater economies of scale, share ideas and investigate new technologies to address future waste and recycling needs through the partnership.
It is believed working together could bring about an 18% efficiency saving compared to the councils operating independently.
PFI Working together also increases the two councils' chances of obtaining support through the Private Finance Initiative if the partnership decides to go down that route.
A new project board has already been set up to include Cabinet members, senior finance, legal and technical officers from both authorities, who will meet regularly to monitor the project.
The development of a joint business case will be supported by an experienced transactor, provided by Defra through its Waste Infrastructure Development Programme.
Waste issues do not stop at the county border, so it makes good sense to look at the possible financial and practical advantages that could be accomplished by working jointly. - Cllr Jim Harker, Northamptonshire CC Project directors Ben Prynn and John Enright from the Waste Infrastructure Development Programme witnessed the memorandum of understanding being signed and they will continue to offer support as the project progresses.

Commenting on the agreement, Northamptonshire county council’s leader, Jim Harker, said: "Waste issues do not stop at the county border, so it makes good sense to look at the possible financial and practical advantages that could be accomplished by working jointly and Milton Keynes is the obvious choice for us."

"Huge impact"The leader of Milton Keynes council, Isobel McCall, said: "The population in our area is steadily rising and this will have a huge impact on the amount of waste generated. We need to act now to find a long-term solution and introduce more sustainable methods of waste management.”

The forming of the partnership has been made that much smoother because the recycling performances of each is relatively similar, with Milton Keynes achieving a 31.6% recycling and composting rate in 2005/06 and Northamptonshire a 34.6% rate, both significantly higher than the 27% national average.

Despite the strong performances, the attention of Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire councils is on the potential £150 per tonne fines they face under the government's Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme over the next two decades.

PoliciesMilton Keynes, home of one of the first materials recycling facilities in the UK, has previously considered pursuing a joint procurement process with Buckinghamshire county council. However, the council stated that "incompatibility of policies" with the pro-incineration county had "prevented full joint working".

Related links:
Milton Keynes council Northamptonshire CC
Although the unitary authority has said it is not opposed to any particular advanced thermal treatment, it considers energy-from-waste plants "high risk" in terms of planning difficulties. Previous attempts by waste firm Shanks to develop incineration capacity in Bletchley floundered amid local opposition.
Northamptonshire's cabinet has also noted that mass-burn incineration does not fit with its policies. Mechanical biological treatment has been suggested as an option, but there are concerns about finding markets for residues.

MBT plants

More bits of information on MBT plants:

1. Viridor (prospective bidders for the Cardiff Bay Plant) are putting in an application for a small "Energy from Waste" (EfW) plant at Exeter, and are being opposed by local Exeter FOE group whose counter proposal is for an MBT plant

2. Northants and Milton Keynes Councils are in process of getting together on a regional waste strategy and the report attached seems to show they do not favour EFW. (We know that nearby Norfolk and Cambridgeshire are going for MBT)3. COSTS!! Cardiff City Council report costed a EfW plant to handle 400,000 - 500,000 million (have I the figures right?) tonnes of waste at £500 million and MBT to handle equivalent amounts of waste at £800 million. A 70,000 tonnes MBT plant is to built at Falkirk at cost of £18 million. Multiply by ten and we get nowhere near £800 million. Where are those responsible for the Cardiff report getting their figures from? www.rts-ad.co.uk
I have been told that to handle 500,000 tonnes of waste, preferably three MBT plants would be needed, at total capital cost (for the three plants) of about £150 million. That information was obtained by telephone call this morning to his German parent company, who have a brand new AD plant just started up at Bremen handling about 100,000 tonnes and costing - if I heard him right - 50-60 million euros (£40 million).

Project Manager wanted for Project Greenwash!

Do you have an interest in the environment? Then this is the job for you.

Job: Project Manager Prosiect Gwyrdd (Project Green), CARDIFF COUNTY COUNCIL
Employer: CARDIFF COUNTY COUNCIL
Posted: 18 Sep 2007
Reference: TW50134981
Location: Cardiff Industry: Environment - Green,
Government - Local government, Senior Executive - Government
Contract: Permanent Hours: Full Time

Job spec
Project Manager, Prosiect Gwyrdd (Project Green)(86k)

Salary: Grade OM1 £50,049 - £55,608 (Pay Award Pending)
Employer contact details Email this job to a friend Shortlist this job
Monmouthshire County Council, Newport City Council, Caerphilly County Borough Council, Cardiff Council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council have formed a partnership to deliver a new sub regional waste strategy. The first project of the new partnership, called Prosiect Gwyrdd, is to identify and deliver a sustainable solution to the waste disposal issues which are a major challenge to the region. To lead and coordinate the project the partners need someone with significant experience of project management and highly developed interpersonal and communication skills. Drive, commitment and leadership qualities also figure highly on our ideal candidate's CV as will the ability to build a team and operate with tact and diplomacy.

An interest in the environment will be an essential backdrop to a career which may have included the public or business sectors. You must be prepared to travel extensively between the partner authorities and may often be required to work out of normal office hours. The first phase project will last for a minimum of three years with the possibility of further phases extending this period. The post will be located in Cardiff Council.
Closing Date: 5th October, 2007
Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity www.cardiff.gov.uk/jobs Tel: (029) 2087 2087

You will find the Job Description and/or Person Specification in the related items section (top right).Operational Manager Application Form- Download the Operational Manager application form - PDF (download 64k)- Download the Operational Manager application form - Word (download 438k)- Download the Strategic Equal Opportunities Policy Statement - PDF (download 68k)- Download the Strategic Equal Opportunities Policy Statement - Word (download 46k)- Request an application through the post- Download Adobe Acrobat Reader

Alternatively, you can request a form by calling C2C (Connect to Cardiff) on 029 2087 2087.Please return the completed form by:e-mail to recruit@cardiff.gov.ukor post to Human Resources, Room 463, County Hall, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff CF10 4UWPlease remember to quote the job reference number.

..................
from the council document ...
EXECUTIVE BUSINESS MEETING: 5 JULY 2007 MUNICIPAL RESIDUAL WASTE TREATMENT
Actually it is to work collaboratively with up to four other South East Wales Local authorities to develop the Outline Business case and carry out all other pre-procurement preparatory work for the proposed joint procurement of a residual waste treatment facility (Prosiect Gwyrdd),
See also LOCATING WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES

Burning Waste will send our house prices falling

'Burning waste will send our house prices falling'
Northwich Guardian - Northwich,Cheshire,UKBy Philip Hennessey Plans have been unveiled to build an incinerator in Lostock, Northwich, and people fear it will also be bad news for Winsford.

Town and borough councillor Malcolm Gaskill said: "The incinerator could mean house prices within a five mile radius will drop by 25 per cent, 10 miles it will drop by 15 per cent and for people living within a 15 mile radius it will be four to five per cent."This means it will affect people living in Winsford and all so we can burn other people's waste."

A very good point ..I say that the ininerator if built will mean that house prices in the area will fall in Cardiff Bay by at least 25% - and within a 15 mile radius by 4-5% affecting everybody in Cardiff just to burn other peoples rubbish from Caerphilly .....

Incinerator news from elsewhere

Expensive waste
York Press - York,
Once built, if it fails to meet emission standards (or fails in some other way), as Sheffield found out with its incinerator in the 1990s, we are committed ...

"Government planning-rule changes could mean local people have little chance to block major projects such as incinerators and nuclear power plants. "Coun Andy D'Agorne, Green Party, Broadway West, York.

Don't put incinerator with 300ft chimney in our town
Liverpool Echo -
CAMPAIGNERS opposed to plans to build a giant £300m waste incinerator on the banks of River Mersey today demanded the government intervene. ...

National network formed to oppose incineration

Members of a new network seeking to prevent more incinerators being built in the UK met for the first time last weekend in Reading.
It's crucial that we don't make the mistake of building technologies that will create a demand for residual waste. Dr Michael Warhurst, FoE
The network is called the United Kingdom Without Incineration - UKWIN - and was established back in March with the support of pressure group Friends of the Earth.

Green light for £17m Wrexham recycling plant
05-09-2007
Planning consent for recycling and in-vessel composting facility with 80,000 tonnes annual capacity

43% of waste technologies "unproven"
10-09-2007
Almost half of waste treatment solutions on the market have not been "proven" to work effectively, a newly-published report has revealed.

Cardiff recycling swindle!

I read this today- First we have scam 'green'. Now it seems we have the The Great Recycling Swindle!

Recycling industry insiders have told us that Cardiff residents’ waste, which is picked up all in one bag without being separated, ends up far too mixed & contaminated to be recycled effectively. The situation is the same in most UK towns. Much of it is sold on to waste dealers who export it halfway across the world to Indonesia, India & China, burning tonnes of carbon dioxide to dump rubbish on poorer people in the global South. Our waste should be recycled separately by operations in the UK, but because it is collected mixed togetherin one bag, paper mills, plastics, & glass handlers find it impossible to work with. Many UK paper mills have had to close down because councils are too short-sighted to implement proper recycling schemes toprovide them with clean materials.

One insider told us: “Cardiff Council will claim that it sends its paper to the paper mill at Ayelsford inKent to be recycled. But none of the kerbside recycling from Cardiff gets there. By the time it’sbeen picked up & taken to the central depot it’s been contaminated by broken glass & other materials, & it’smostly unusable. I know this because I’ve been speaking to people at the paper mills. I don’t knowexactly where it gets sent, but it stands to reason that if the UK recyclers are refusing it, it’ll besold by middle-men to the big dealers in the Far East.”Another industry expert, who also prefers to remain anonymous, told us that lots of our waste ends up inthe global South where it is picked over by poor labourers in dangerous & unsanitary conditions. “Thereare containers full of mixed materials illegally exported to developing countries where health & safetyis not a consideration & where children sift through what we would call landfill sites.

I’ve heard rumoursthat Cardiff’s so-called recycled waste gets sent to Indonesia, but only a few people know for sure. Theydon’t want to broadcast it”. Cardiff Council only recently opened the expensiverecycling ‘sorting’ facility at Lamby Way. One sourcetold us, “Lamby Way is a complete disaster. All it produces is low-grade contaminated waste that’s next to useless. That place was a total waste of money”. Another told us that big & costly separating plantslike Lamby Way wouldn’t be necessary if the public were asked to do the job in the home, or if collectorsseparated on collection. “Getting individuals separating waste in the home is not difficult – it’scommon practice in other European countries like Germany, & it’s also done in Newport!”

One big difference in the Newport recycling method, apart from separating waste at source, not exporting it & actually recycling it, is it isn’t run by the council, it’s run by a community group!
Waste savers Real recycling!

Cardiff recycling/composting rates

Cardiff recycling/composting rates 1999-00 to 2005-06..Worst in Wales with 9.7%..Way to go..Powys is the best with 36.9%!





Cardiff recycling/composting rates 1999-00 to 2005-06

Greens: Don't Incinerate Cardiff

Don't incinerate Cardiff

Cardiff Council is proposing to build a waste incinerator on the site of the Nippon Glass works in the Butetown area of Cardiff. Cardiff and Vale Green Party strongly opposes this development for the following reasons:

It will increase the level of pollution in & around the Butetown area owing to the large volume of lorries and heavy vehicles delivering waste to the incinerator.

It will lead to various toxins detrimental to health being released into the atmosphere which could be spread across all parts of Cardiff and beyond.

Any energy output created by the burning of waste will be negated by the huge amount of energy used to generate the very high temperatures needed to burn the waste.

And it also should be noted that other waste incinerators such as the one at Port Talbot are operating under capacity and at a financial loss despite being heavily subsidised.

Cardiff Council is proposing to build a waste incinerator on the site of the Nippon Glass works in the Butetown area of Cardiff.

Cardiff & Vale Green Party would instead:
Increase the amount and capacity for recycling within the City

Promote the use of less packaging across both the commercial and business Sectors

Use Anaerobic Digestion wherever possible to alleviate waste problems and generate renewable electricity. (Please click here: www.adnett.org for more information on Anaerobic Digestion).

And wherever possible promote a 'repair and renewal culture' whereby instead of simply throwing things away we repair and renew them and this in turn will mean less waste and more skilled & fulfilling employment.

Documents

* Environmental Scrutiny Committee Agenda 10/07/07 (8k)
* Outline Regional Transport Plan (9.89M)
* Municipal Residual Waste Treatment (271k)
* Household Food Waste Collections and Treatment (61k)
* Sustainable Development Action Programme (318k)