Archived press release

Living next to burning rubbish

10 April 2000

Government Plans Incinerator Avalanche

The Government's new waste strategy, expected shortly, will threaten to cover Britain in scores of new incinerators, Friends of the Earth warned today. (A full list of likely sites is available from FOE).

But the publication of the strategy the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions has been delayed because of worries about a tidal wave of complaints from local communities threatened with new incinerators. Friends of the Earth has told the Government that all this trouble could be avoided if targets were set for recycling,comparable to best practice in the rest of Europe, and fund was provided for decent recycling services through money raised by the landfill tax.

Britain has one of the worst recycling records in Europe. Most local councils have failed hopelessly to meet the target, set more than ten years ago, of recycling a quarter of their rubbish by the year 2000. Local authorities in the constituencies of Messrs Blair, Brown,Prescott and Meacher are among the worst (attached, together with a recycling league table for Councils.).

As it stands at present, the new strategy will fail:

• to set statutory targets for Council recycling, and
• to provide more money to promote recycling.

Friends of the Earth's predictions for the waste strategy - based on detailed discussions with Ministers and Civil Servants - are as follows:

• a non-statutory recycling target of 30 per cent by 2010
• no new money for local authorities, despite the Chancellor getting an extra £45 million this year through his Budget increase in the landfill tax
• promotional “gimmicks” to encourage recycling (such as reward vouchers for people recycling at supermarkets)
  an initiative to encourage recycling of junk mail
• permits for Councils governing the amount of waste they can landfill.

Mike Childs, Senior Waste Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

“If Tony Blair and Gordon Brown don't intervene the Government's new waste strategy will be rubbish. The Government could prove its green credentials by ensuring that everyone has decent and convenient recycling services and the UK is amongst the best in Europe, not the worst. Britain has to stop chucking rubbish into landfill sites but plotting to cover Britain in new incinerators is no solution. It will do considerable political damage as communities protest at the prospect of living next to burning rubbish. It will also leave Britain languishing at the bottom of Europe's recycling league. Instead we need clear, statutory targets for recycling.And we need money to make these targets a reality. That is the only green solution to Britain's rubbish crisis.”

NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING RATES

Recycling rates in Cabinet members constituencies

The Best and the Worst 25 Local Authorities Recyclers

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust