Cautious welcome for Minister's waste strategy for Wales

21 Oct 2008

Ambitious proposals to reduce waste in Wales, announced by the Minster for the Environment today¹, have been welcomed by Friends of the Earth Cymru.

But the environment group has stressed that incineration should not be part of any waste strategy.

Friends of the Earth Cymru director, Gordon James, said:

"We welcome the Minister's vision of a zero-waste society in which materials are recycled and re-used with virtual no production of waste.

"We're pleased that recycling and composting rates continue to rise and that quantities going to landfill are decreasing. The new recycling and composting targets of 52% by 2013 and 64% by 2020 are very welcome - though we believe these could be even higher.

"We are, though, disappointed that the door has still been left open to burning waste. Incineration must not be a part of our waste strategy.

"Incinerators undermine attempts to reduce and recycle by requiring a constant stream of waste as a source of fuel to keep them operating for up to 25 years. They generate more greenhouse gases than other waste options, produce fly ash that has to be buried in hazardous waste sites and create fewer jobs than recycling².

"We also warn the Minister not to eliminate the possibility of any waste to landfill, as some environmentally-friendly technologies, such as Mechanical Biological Treatment, produce an inert waste suitable for landfill once recycling and composting have been maximised³."

NOTES

1. The Welsh Assembly Government Minister for the Environment, Jane Davidson, announced today at the CYLCH conference at the Marriot Hotel, Cardiff that the recycling of municipal waste in Wales has risen, in the first quarter of this year, to 36% and that Welsh local authorities had reached their 2010 target for reducing the amount of waste going to landfill two years early.
2. 'Up in Smoke: Why Friends of the Earth Opposes Incineration': www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/up_in_smoke.pdf
3. Friends of the Earth paper on Mechanical Biological Treatment: www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/mchnical_biolo_treatmnt.pdf

For further information please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577