Incineration
|
Waste |
 |
|
A sea of waste |
We are drowning under a sea of waste. FOE believes that it is up to all of us, individuals, industry and the government, to reduce the amount of waste we produce.
The best method of 'disposal' is to use the waste. If material can be sorted and re-used, that is ideal. But realistically, this will only ever be possible for a small proportion of items. The next best solution is to recycle. By doing this, we recover the materials that went into the original products. This means that we avoid the problem of disposal, but also means that we save on the extraction or manufacture of materials that would otherwise be needed for manufacturing new products.
 |
|
Incinerators produce pollution |
The worst solution is to incinerate. This appears to get rid of the problem, but it doesn't. Incinerators produce air pollution, highly toxic ash and huge quantities of greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, industry and some people in government see incineration as the solution to our waste problem.
Why Incinerators Are Bad For Us All
Incinerators add to the air pollution burdon. The air is already heavily polluted in west London and in places it breaches standards set by the government to protect human health.
Due to the cocktail of noxious gases, particulates and even radioactive material thrown into the air, there are major health risks, such as cancers and birth defects.
The incinerator will produce huge volumes of greenhouse gases and thus contribute to global warming.
An incinerator does not even solve our waste disposal problems. It produces large quantities of ash which will have to transported and dumped in a landfill site somewhere. Some of the ash - 'fly ash' - is extremely toxic, containing dioxins. Because of this it has to be landfilled at a specially controlled site.
This incinerator is a monster that needs to be fed constantly to make it viable. It will compete with more environmentally sound options such as recycling, composting and waste reduction. It will undermine those councils and companies that are trying to dispose of waste in a way that minimises the impact on the environment.
Links To Other Pages On Incineration
West London Friends of the Earth is campaigning on incinerators. See below for further information.
All around the country there are other incinerator threats, for example Newhaven. There is no definitive list of incinerator threats or a portal for incinerator issues, but a useful list of links may be found on the York site - see 'links' on left.
York itself is a case in point. The council leader Steve Galloway declared at the latest Council Executive meeting (this note written on 20 June 06) that there would definitely not be an incinerator in York. But the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy only says that the preferred options are likely to be biological and/or thermal treatment (i.e. incinerator). So we think it reasonable to highlight the issue. For more information contact the York site webmaster.
General information and issues on incineration:
- Up in smoke - why FOE opposes incineration
- Health threats from incinerators
- More on incineration and landfill (national FOE website)
- More information on health etc can be found on the Colnebook incinerator pages
Back to waste, recycling and incineration introduction
Revised March 07