2 urgent matters- Cardiff council is debating Cardiff's Waste Strategy tomorrow while distributing Cardiff Council Capital Times - propaganda misinformation paper Capital times (Feb edition)
The waste strategy is to build super dirty smelly incinerators without regard to the cost and depending on WAG subsidy and not consider the other options.
Executive Business Meeting Committee 3 County Hall 13/01/2011 Start: 02:00 PM
Meanwhile Cardiff Council are currently sending out the Capital times (Feb edition)delivered to me yesterday with the message Turning a problem into a resource - that is Re-branding incineration as a means of recovery rather than waste disposal creates the impression that burning our rubbish is environmentally-friendly, which it clearly is not.
Other authorities had already achieved a lot higher recycling than Cardiff - South Oxfordshire had doubled recycling to 73%, and San Francisco which recycled 77% was aiming for 100% by 2020 and had rejected incineration on cost grounds Basically Cardiff council and the Welsh Assembly government is saying that the Welsh are too feckless to recycle properly - the triumph of despair over hope.
The council seems to be more interested in publishing subjective and misleading information than in properly informing people about what’s happening. Local authorities should ensure that publicity relating to their own policies and proposals are not designed to be (or are not likely to be interpreted as) aimed at influencing the public’s opinions about the policies of the authority according to government guidelines.
From Cardiff Councils free newspaper Feb 2011 edition providing free misinformation to every home in Cardiff.Front page.."Tackling the problem of waste"
"Cardiff is preparing to move to a greener future....council looking to even more sustainable whilst remaining affordable, in its push to reduce the city carbon footprint and drive recycling rates higher...."Page 9 Turning a problem into a resource
"Four companies have been shortlisted to progress to the stage in the process to find
a solution for waste that cannot be recycled or composted. Prosiect Gwrydd will deliver a contract to provide treatment facilities for residual waste - what is left once recycling and composting have been maximised (lie) - five councils including Cardiff in South Wales, including Cardiff in South Wales . Cllr Mark Stephens chair of the project's joint committee said "all partners share the aspiration of the Towards Zero waste strategy published by WAG so we have ensured the bids going forward are consistent with those principles. (lie) The companies that have been invited to submit detailed solutions are
1. Coventa Energy proposes incinerator at Brig y Cwm, Merthyr Tydfil
2. Veolia ES Aurora 3. Viridor Waste Management Trident Park, Cardiff.
4.. Waste Recycling Group Traston Rd, Newport.
The WAG has set a 70% target for recycling and composting and the five partner councils
- Cardiff, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and The Vale of Glamorgan have developed strategies aimed at a 65% combined target with at least a further 5% being recovered through the residual waste treatment process. Cllr Stephens added "The priority for each partner authority is to recycle and compost as much waste as possible. We acknowledge and are grateful for the financial assistance provided by the WAG which allows us to
Cardiff council should put out real information and not simply propaganda on behalf of the council.
Cardiff Waste Strategy
The turgid Cardiff Council Waste Strategy document is on this page
This offers only one solution. CO2 making Incineration dressed up as 'energy from waste'. All along we have described Project Gwrydd as project incineration while they claimed to be technology neutral and they come up with incinerator or incinerator or incinerator or incinerator
Some sources of energy are not renewable or sustainable. Energy from Waste is bound to be raised in this debate Incineration of waste are not a renewable energy form NOR IS IT GREEN
When applied to incinerators, "energy from waste" is a dangerous euphemism. Far from being a sensible, environmentally friendly solution to the enormous amount of waste created in Wales, incineration is a nasty quick fix to deal with our ever-growing waste mountain
The news that a 400m waste plant planned for Wales Jan 04 2011 to build one of the UK’s largest waste incineration plants on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil is shocking.
This is an Energy from waste CON WAG under pressure to reduce landfill are opting for incineration of waste under the pretext that they can make electricity from the process! We know the electricity from one of these large incinerators is pretty small, compared with normal power stations (several 100MW up to Aberthaw’s 1450MW) and produces toxic ash and air pollution. They set no requirement on energy efficiency, despite Welsh strategy on 60% minimum.
Claims that significant energy could generated from waste are wrong - even Covanta's huge Merthyr proposal would generate a tiny 60MW compared with Aberthaw's 1450 MW.
WAGs and Cardiff Councils are Re-branding incineration as a means of recovery rather than waste disposal to create the impression that burning our rubbish is environmentally-friendly, which it clearly is not. Cardiff council and WAW seem to be more interested in publishing subjective and misleading information than in properly informing people about what’s happening. The People of Wales deserve to be told the truth.
Incinerators produce CO2
Incineration also involves the release of high levels of CO2, the main climate warming gas. Accounting for recovered energy, incineration is accompanied by twice or more the CO2 per unit of power than the same energy (as electricity or combined heat-and-power) produced from fossil fuel. From the start (2015) Viridor’s incinerator would be worse in fossil CO2 emissions than the worst coal-fired plant and nearly 4 times worse than the UK average generation. Full and proper consideration to climate change is a requirement within the context of the planning process though overlooked it seems. CO2 and incineration The Dirty Truth
The Welsh Assembly and WLGA must NOT promote incineration.
Energy from waste = a waste of energy. Plastics and paper are the main source of calorific value in an incinerator. Burning plastics, which are oil based, is effectively burning fossil fuels – the main factor behind global warming. Paper is produced from wood by an energy intensive process. Burning it wastes energy and resources as well as generating pollution. This information has been available for over a decade
Other countries have achieved much higher recycling rates 70% and higher within a few years so there is no excuse to build incinerators. Putting off 70% recycling till 2025 means going slow on recycling, when some countries (Falmand/Berlgium) and municipalities have already reached this level
More jobs will be created from better recycling as this new report shows.
We will never achieve 'Zero Waste' if Jane Davidson,and our AM'sand Cllrs allow companies to construct massive pollution making facilities like the incinerators above.
Why is the Welsh Assembly Government giving incineration and Prosiect Gwyrdd a subsidy of £9 million/yr which they propose to extend through out Wales.
Meanwhile the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA refuse to go for 'high recycling' pre-2020 and are trying to lock us into expensive incinerator)
Prosiect Gwyrdd Incinerator was not as they claimed to be "technology neutral" with their 4 chosen ones. Incinerator or incinerator or incinerator or incinerator. Prosiect 'Gwyrdd' = Project Incinerator
Jane Davidsons Phoney consumer group promoting incineration that is Waste Awareness Misinformation Wales costing us £1 million/yr. A deputation from FOE met with WAW last week and established that WAW is wholly funded and steered by WAG and sees its role as delivering WAG's plans - which are
a) to delay the 70% recycling till 2025 even though many countries and regions are already achieving or approaching this level,
b) to burn waste rather than produce biogas for domestic use, and
c) to subsidise incineration instead of allowing MBT at half the cost, with use of products in land reclamation and enhancing forestry/coppicing.
The deputation outlined FoE Cymru's critique of WAG's change in waste policy from minimising incineration and landfill to the present one of promoting and subsiding incineration over landfill. This critique and the real 'zero waste' policy were commissioned from PIC consultants. They pointed out that such an alternative that maximises recyclables and reclaims compostables through MBT (mechanical and bio-techniques) has been adopted in Ireland, where an international, team showed it to be sound. In comparison, WAG's policy is unsound, using poor computer software to get very questionable pro-incinerator results. WAG's officials (Andy Rees & co) must know that as they have failed to defend their results against FOE's thorough and convincing critique
WAW Waste Awareness Misinformation Wales said that they are an arm of WAG and that their 'survey' (Wales would like to burn not bury waste) was at the behest of Andy Rees, Jasper Roberts and co of WAG. They told them that not only was the survey loaded but the results falsified since, in fact people in the focus groups they had expressed strong worries about pollution of the air from burning!
Incinerators projects have a long term commitment of maybe 25 years. Landfill Tax is paid on bottom ash from incinerators. For every five tonnes of waste combusted, around one tonne of ash is produced. A government might well increase this tax in the future. In Ireland Minister for the Environment John Gormley's plan to introduce a levy on waste going to incineration
The Irish government is proposing an incineration tax on the basis that incinerators are worse for the environment and resources than MBT - mechanical and biological treatments - which return bio-material to land or, if too contaminated, send to landfill. Yet the Welsh government subsidises incinerators and aims to ban MBT
ps
An updated Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity is currently going through Parliament. It states: “Local authorities should ensure that publicity relating to their own policies and proposals are not designed to be (or are not likely to be interpreted as) aimed at influencing the public’s opinions about the policies of the authority. The proposed new Code now contains specific guidance on the frequency, content and appearance of local authority newspapers or magazines. It also proposes to prohibit the use of lobbyists where the expenditure is intended to influence local people on political issues.
Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity...
Summary. The Government is consulting on a new Code of Recommended Practice ...
www.communities.gov.uk/.../localgovernment/publicitycodeconsult2010
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