23rd October 2007

News that an incinerator is being considered for Javelin Park near Stonehouse has been condemned by Greens - other options are more sustainable and safer. 

Copyrighted photo reprinted here with permission of Seattle-based photographer Chris Jordan. See more photos.

It seems like Gloucestershire County Council is in danger of making a major mistake about how to deal with our waste (Citizen 11/10/07) that may damage our health and environment for the next 25 years.

All agree that we must urgently reduce the waste we send to landfill – our ‘truck and chuck’ mentality must end!  However an incinerator, or ‘mass burn facility’ at Javelin Park near Stonehouse, or in anybody else’s back yard, is not the answer – even if it incorporates combined heat and power.  A massive incinerator could tie us into a 25-year contract of producing waste, trucked from all over the County, to feed the monster. There will be little incentive to actually reduce the amount of waste we produce, and incineration still produces deadly dioxins and furans.

There are much better alternatives.  The first priority needs to be to reduce the amount produced in the first place through better incentives and more encouragement to recycling and home composting. Let’s support some local social enterprises to recycle locally rather than send our plastic or anything else to China.

Then there is a need for a truly decentralised system for dealing with the remainder cleanly and efficiently.  The technology is now available for smaller local units such as ‘in-vessel-composting’ and ‘gas pyrolisis’.  The current division of responsibility between the District Councils for collection and the County Council for disposal of waste does not encourage sensible local solutions.

We need to produce much much less waste, and deal with it locally, using cutting edge technology. To tie ourselves into a centralised monster incinerator, even if called by another name, is not the answer.

Councillor Martin Whiteside
Hillside, Claypits Lane, Lypiatt, Stroud
Green Party District Councillor and Parliamentary Candidate