A Stronger 'No' to Waste Incinerators

4.32.34pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 26th May 2006

Guildford Borough Council should strengthen its objection to large-scale waste incinerators, and protest about waste imports to Surrey from London. That was the clear message from last night's meeting of the borough's Environment Scrutiny Committee, discussing the Council's response to the consultation on a joint waste strategy covering all the county's district and borough councils.

The 'Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy' includes a policy and action plan which recognises there are mixed views about waste incineration amongst councils. Guildford Borough Council has consistently opposed large-scale mass-burn waste incinerators, such as that proposed for Slyfield five years ago, and officers' suggested response to the Strategy included concerns about health effects, about the effect on wildlife, about the disposal of toxic incinerator bottom ash and air pollution. The committee was unanimous in accepting a proposal from Cllr Liz Hogger, the Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson, to strengthen the response by adding further objections on the grounds of:

• Traffic - the high volume of heavy-vehicle traffic as waste is transported across the county to large-scale incinerators would be unacceptable to communities

• Impact on recycling - provision of mass-burn incinerators would discourage ambitious recycling targets

• Technological advance - a commitment to incineration would be premature, as over the 20 years of the strategy better innovative technologies are likely to be developed

Cllr Hogger said "It's good to see the district and borough councils working together, but it's a shame they are not more united in rejecting large-scale incineration of waste. Guildford has led the way on this, with cross-party agreement. The Council worked with residents and environmental groups such as GAIN to fight off the threat of a massive waste incinerator at Slyfield, and we have set very ambitious recycling targets for the borough. I hope the other districts will listen to our reasons and follow our approach."

Cllr Hogger also expressed concern that under the regional plan Surrey is expected to accept 8.5% of the waste from London which the city has not been able to recycle. She commented "It's possible we will end up with waste dumped on us that we cannot recycle, making the county's problems worse. Guildford needs to make strong protests if this happens."