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NEWS August 20 2001
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| Campaigns – London against Incineration David Binns Edmonton, North London, has the misfortune of being home to Britain’s largest incinerator. It sits beside the north circular, a menace to local residents. In defiance of widespread opposition, the government plans to enlarge this blot on the landscapeas part of its bizarre, incinerator friendly waste policy. There is every sign that the recent indictment of that policy by the all-party environment sub-committee will be shelved and toxins will continue to spray across North London and further afield. London Against Incineration was formed by local residents determined to resist the planned expansion and to campaign for closure of the plant. The group sees this double aim as inseparable from a shift toward a zero-waste policy based on reduction, re-use and re-cycling. The environmental and health hazards of producing nad then burning waste are now widely recognised. Yet London Waste Ltd. Who run the Edmonton monstrosity, boast impeccable environmental credentials. Their glossy PR brochure ‘Energy from Waste’ claims the proposed enlargement ‘will make a significant contribution to the reduction of air pollution in the United Kingdom. By displacing other forms of energy production, emissions of dust, sulphur dioxide, cardon dioxide, hydrogen chloride and oxides of nitrogen can be reduced.’ However, this list does not include dioxins, the seriously toxic products of burning chlorinated substances such as PVC. Dioxins are associated with cancer, birth defects and other conditions and incinerators are a well-known source – scarcely surprising that London Waste would rather not discuss them. London Waste is a 50/50 joint venture established by the nOrth London Waste Authority, representing seven boroughs, and Sita, a Fench multinational which claims to be ‘number 1 in Europe, number 4 in the world’ for waste management. They are the same company that recently lost the Brighton refuse collection contract (see www.schnews.org/archive/news308.htm), while until recently Sita’s empire included the Dudley refuse collection service, but they were kicked out in favour of an in-house team. Customer satisfaction surveys show a strong improvement since then and Mike Kelley, Dudley’s director of operational services, has described Sita as offering ‘a very low-cost, low-quality service’. Some reassurance for the residents of Edmonton. London Waste has a vested interest in expanding incineration, and continues to promote in the face of mounting informed opposition. But the Edmonton incinerator is now established as the site of successful direct action. In June the five Greenpeace activists who climbed the chimney and shut down the plant for six days last October were cleared in court of criminal damage charges. London Against Incineration also supported the Communities Against Toxins conference held in London last spring and is working with the Zero Waste campaign. More info on www.londonagainstincineration.moonfruit.com Links: News Updates 6/7/01 - Ash from Edmonton incinerator used in building materials http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/toxic_waste_2.html |