The UK is currently grappling with a waste mountain. Recycling rates are among the lowest in Europe, and landfill capacity is rapidly filling up as the majority of municipal waste ends up buried in the ground. Meanwhile, overall volumes of household waste continue to grow. Add to this a series of European Union laws requiring deep cuts in recyclable waste going to landfill, and you have the recipe for a waste management crisis.
As the cost of landfill rises, many local authorities have responded with plans to burn waste in giant incinerators. Although incineration has enjoyed positive publicity recently thanks to energy-from-waste policies, critics say that re-using, recycling or composting waste are far more efficient ways to save energy and resources. Incinerators also work against higher recycling rates, since they are operated through long-term contracts that require guaranteed inputs of waste.
Community groups opposing incineration advocate two broad sets of policy to manage the UK’s waste challenge – one to maximise the portion of waste recovered and reused; the other to minimise the total amount of rubbish produced in the first place. This could include incentives and targets that reduce surplus packaging or increase recyling rates, such as those adopted in countries like Sweden, Denmark and California.
Groups that oppose incinerators face a tough battle. Despite the health problems reported near many incinerators, ranging from asthma to cancer, the Government does not accept that burning waste is linked to negative health impacts. Local authorities favour incineration as a low-cost way of meeting their targets for reducing landfill, and lack experience of more sustainable waste management practices.
Despite this, campaigns for more sustainable waste facilities are often energetic and tenacious, and attract wide public support. As for all grass roots organisations, opposing incinerator plans requires good technical knowledge of the planning, regulatory and legal systems. The Manuka Club supports a number of groups who expose incineration as a false solution to the waste crisis.
