A load of hot air15 December 2010
He says: Heard about the plans to build an incinerator down the road?
You say: Mm, not good is it.
He says: Maybe it's not such a bad idea. I've heard we're running out of landfill sites to cope with the amount of rubbish we're all creating.
You say: You're right - landfill sites are getting really full, especially down south. You'd think it would be a good idea to burn our way out of the problem. But incinerators are hungry beasts - they need an endless supply of rubbish.
He says: Why's that such a bad thing?
You say: Because effectively the incinerator ends up eating its way through mountains of natural resources - wood, paper, metals. And a lot of what gets burnt could actually be recycled.
He says: OK, so we need to recycle more. But now everyone's getting so worked up about climate change, surely it makes sense to burn rubbish and use the heat to make electricity.
You say: Not really. Incinerators aren't like biomass burners - they're not designed to be efficient power stations. There's another big difference too - when they burn ordinary waste in an incinerator, they don't remove the toxic stuff. So as well as burning safe organic matter, tonnes of packaging and plastics get thrown in as well.
He says: And that makes them really dirty, right?
You say: Filthy. The ash is particularly bad. Full of dodgy substances called dioxins and heavy metals - and I'm not talking Iron Maiden here.
He says: Sounds nasty.
You say: It is. And this toxic ash ends up in land fill sites anyway, so it doesn't even solve that problem.
He says: So, burning our rubbish isn't the answer then?
You say: No way. We'd all be better off with less packaging and more recycling. We could take a leaf out of Belgium's book - some people there manage to recycle more than 70 per cent.
He says: OK, I'm convinced - let's put a stop to this dirty incinerator.
You say: With you all the way. Now, fancy joining me at Disco Inferno to burn off a few of these beer calories?
© Matt Brown
