Cardiff, Caerphilly, Newport,
Monmouthshire, Vof G Councils want a big burner which Ties them into a very expensive PFI for 25 YEARS to burn waste rather than improve recycling rates. The Prosiect Gwyrdd councils are striving towards a feeble 65% recycling by 2025 with at least a further 5% being ASH from the incinerator. Many other councils have already exceeded 70% recyling rates.
“Prosiect Gwyrdd” = Scam Green = WAG Welsh Waste Policy = incinerators
Of course, she had to manage contracts for highly paid consultants, which totalled far over budget at almost £230 000 (below). She did this from the budget for "supplies and services" of £161 000, adjusted to £191 000, but was still £96 000 overspent. And a further £82 000 payments owing were deferred to the current year. Evidently Tara was very successful as Project Manager.
The payments to consultants in the year were (with payments deferred to the current year shown in [...])
WalesOnline
Under their partnership arrangement known as Prosiect Gwyrdd/Project Green, ... But Prosiect Gwyrdd director Tara King said any planning applications being ...
No the firms are Not just bidding 'to deal with recyclables' as recycling rates are low!
The Cardiff publicity is a direct lie and deliberately misleading.Prosiect Gwyrdd is NOT Green! The partnership is not to "recycle and compost" but to dispose of the "residuals" by unwanted incinerators at huge cost.
Prosiect Gwyrdd is rigged for
incineration! They claim they have not chosen technology, yet theprospectus advertised by P Gwyrdd has been rigged to attract large incinerator companies and fix a long-term commitment to incineration, instead of cheaper low-tech mechanical and biological treatment systems.
P Gwyrdd claimed to meet Welsh Strategy targets, but there is no mention of the maximum residual waste per person of 150kg, which means 125 000 tonnes maximum compared with their guide figure of 160 000 tonnes (35% of 460 000t).
They’ve told Councils to claim to the public that they aim to “recycle and compost as much waste as possible”. Yet the present 65% falls far short of that claim, being less than already achieved in Europe, eg. Flanders, and far below the 80-90% figures said possible by their consultants. Cardiff council even sends all bulk rubbish to landfill.
Cardiff Council has an inefficient Commingled recycling
collection system that leaves them with a lot of materials unsuitable for reprocessing.
They say nothing about toxic residues from waste combustion and the requirement under the proximity principle to have an outlet in SE Wales. They set no requirement on energy efficiency, despite Welsh strategy on 60% minimum.
Say No to this plan to mortgage our communities for 25-30 years. They are going for Private Finance over 25-30 yr, despite cross-party opposition in Wales to high cost, inflexible PFI!
Questions for Chair Cllr Mark Stephens Lib Dem and Tara King Project Manager Prosiect Gwyrdd
Has the financial assessment been revised to take into account the falling tonnages of residual waste (rather than increasing tonnages assumed)?
Has a financial assessment been calculated for scenarios in which residual household waste meets the targets given in the draft new Waste Strategy for Wales (maximum 295 kg per inhabitant per year in 2012-13, decreasing to 150 kg per inhabitant per year by 2024-5)?
what is the risk of choosing Viridor-type incineration, if incinerator bottom ash is found to be hazardous waste (cf. the EA says this is to be taken as the default) ?
what is the risk if CO2 from incineration is counted (it isn't at the moment) as adding to the carbon-footprint of 'waste management/disposal', as needed to conform with the EU ETS scheme, whereby the waste sector has to reduce CO2 equiv emissions by 16% (2020 levels compared with 2005)?
Tara King Project Manager Prosiect Gwyrdd wrote in Nov. that they haven't revised the financial assessment - and won't do so till the Final Business Case (after they've excluded better/cheaper options):
"reporting the Final Business Case (FBC). The FBC will not be proposed to Members for a decision for 18-20 months or more from now, the procurement is expected to take that long."
"Whichever way this Project is assessed, there are very significant affordability issues"
OBC Health-Check Addendum 2009
and in para 8.11.8. 9 "Given the magnitude of the ‘Gap’ that arises under both options, it is clear that partnering authorities will face a significant financial challenge to manage their future residual waste arrangements, irrespective of the final option that is chosen."
Tara King Project Gwyrdd manager stated that "all need to‘sell’ the message of PG to wider stakeholders e.g. The Market professional bodies like CIWM." (19th March 2008, County Hall, Cardiff )
Title: Prosiect Gwyrdd Joint Committee
Description: Prosiect Gwyrdd Joint Committee Location: Committee Room 4 County Hall Date: 10/03/2010 Start: 05:00 PM
New FOE report
.......and Professor Dr Paul Connett Ph.D on zero waste here
..............................Right now the landfill surcharge is driving the building of massive incinerators
UK is moving from worst solution to the next worse solution i.e. moving from the bottom of the waste hierarchy up.
What we need are financial incentives to encourage communities to move to the top of the waste hierarchy –i.e. towards sustainability. Perhaps........
INCINERATION 20 pounds/ton surcharge
40 pounds/ton surcharge on ash
LANDFILLING 40 pounds/ton surcharge
The Governent is pushing councils in one direction - incineration
Charles Clover in The Sunday Times derided the government for pushing councils towards incineration as a solution for waste disposal. Previously incineration plants had been opposed because of fears of toxic emissions, an issue now largely dealt with by better burners. Clover said incineration should be opposed: "It starves recycling industries of raw materials and prevents a cheaper, greener business model from succeeding."
UK Health research here Effect on health unknown here Welsh councils' incinerator trend Environment minister Carwyn Jones has said the development of incinerators in Wales is ineitable.24-3-07 AN INCINERATOR close to Swansea's prestigious SA1 development is being investigated for allegedly pumping out too many harmful fumes...Residents...have been told that potentially-cancer-causing dioxin emissions were found to have been three times the limit when tested in December last year. Waste Burning Could Be Lethal (from Oxford Mail) Incinerators - are WMD's? Health Impacts of Incinerators here UK without incineration network here
A report from Friends of the Earth reveals the huge extent of the pollution and financial losses caused by our love of landfill and incinerationmore...
Wales Climate Camp
The Minister depicted Prosiect Gwyrdd as "producing much needed energy" that would "use waste in the best possible way", despite the consortium claiming their Business case for procuring a ‘solution’ for residual waste is technology-neutral
WAG Approval of the business case and subsidy for Prosiect Gwyrdd, 27 Jan. 2009:
New funding boost for next generation energy-from-waste plant in south Wales
Why are incinerator residues not counted in the recycling/composting indicator?hereClassification of Incinerator Bottom Ash (updated 29 Nov. 2008)
Facebook Groups
No Incinerator in Cardiff Bay here
- Councils Scam Gwyrdd
Scottish Parliament: National Waste Strategy
Scottish Parliament vote against large-scale incinerators -The vote in the Scottish Parliament, carried because the Tories voted with the Greens and SNP. Just one Lib-Dem supported, 6 Labour absentees.
If burning up to a quarter of Scotland's municipal waste is "a failure of the imagination" how much bigger a failure is the proposed Welsh strategy with burning up to 37% proposed !
It appears that the governing SNP had a change in mind when confronted with 25% in their Minister's plan.
*S3M-4348.1 Scottish Parliament: National Waste Strategy (11 Jun 2009)
11 Jun 2009 ... Greens win Holyrood Vote against "Landfill in the Sky". Parliament today endorsed Green opposition to plans for a new generation of ... there should be no necessity for any large-scale waste-to-energy plants to be built ...
Newport’s cabinet gave the go ahead to allow an Assembly-owned site on Tatton Road to be considered for the project. The site, in the industrial area of Queensway Meadows, is likely to be the only publicly owned site earmarked for the plant.
