Information on Loughborough

Local Candidate Speaks out on Incinerator Plans

Posted on 01/09/2009
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Eric Goodyer, Labour's prospective MP for Charnwood condemned Leicestershire County Council for failign to promote modern alternatives to waste incineration. In a lengthy statement he said

"I have every confidence in the engineering & design skills of BIFFA. It should be possible using the latest scrubbing and particulate removal technology to build a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) incinerator for household waste that meets today's environmental standards. I was a member of the team that that financed and built the South East London CHP 25 years ago (SELCHP). We had a letter of support from Friends of the Earth, because at that time CHP was the only credible alternative to land-fill. The 3 Labour Boroughs that built SELCHP ensured that a substantial slice of the profits were used for environmental works to compensate the residents for the disruption. We also commissioned a wholly independent Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIAS) to ensure that we included every currently available safeguard. We gave residents groups a cash grant to enable them hire their own independent experts for the planning inquiry. Finally we held a series of open public meetings where residents were allowed to ask anything. I expect the Tories at County Hall to offer the same regard to the residents of Leicestershire now, before any land is purchased or planning consents given; and call on them to commission a genuinely independent EIAS immediately. The last time the County consulted about household waste was about 16 years ago, and I proposed then that they should build a CHP incinerator. The idea was not taken up and we continued to dump rubbish in holes in the ground. It seems that the Tories have finally caught up with Old Technology, for that is what CHP now is. There are more modern, cleaner and greener alternatives. The Ball Mill at Bursom has proven that post-processing of household waste can divert 40% of the mass for recycling. The Anaerobic Digestion Plant at Wanlip has proven that 100% of organic waste can be turned in to compost and clean water, and the resultant methane gas is being used now to generate 1.5 Megawatts of electricity. Emerging intermediate technologies can bridge the gap. The most promising being an autoclave, which can process the residual output from Ball Mills to recover plastics and metals, and sterilise the residue; glass is still a challenge but it should have been removed in advance by the householder. As a research scientist and engineer I must wait for validated results, but some initial assessments indicate that as much as 90% of household waste can be disposed of safely in this way, recovering recyclates, compost, clean water and generating renewable electricity. It is not acceptable for County Hall Tories to wash their hands of this process, by simply claiming that all they asked for were tenders for 'waste disposal'. This is an abrogation of their duty to take decisions. They should have asked for tenders for alternative processes to both landfill and CHP incineration. Charnwood Constituency Labour Party and I will continue to campaign on the Green Agenda

1) We should seek tenders for anaerobic digestion instead of CHP for household waste,

2) We will continue to oppose the new regulations that allow quarrying in Charnwood Forest

3) We insist that the essential new housing we need should first be built on Brown Field sites, and reject the County's sites for Sustainable Urban Extensions in our area

4) That genuine measures are taken to tackle congestion, including re-opening disused rail lines, and working with the City to build a tram line terminating in Syston."