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DEFRA statistics show incinerators are not needed
6 November 2008
Commenting on new DEFRA figures showing that 90% of local authorities are meeting or exceeding household recycling targets, Friends of the Earth's senior resource use campaigner Michael Warhurst said:
"These figures provide further evidence that new incinerators are not needed - local authorities are already diverting waste from landfill by boosting recycling and composting."
"Proposals for dozens of new polluting and expensive incinerators have been justified on the grounds that we will continue to produce more and more waste, but these figures show that total waste is decreasing."
"Recycling resources is a win-win for the environment and councils' budgets. Recycling targets must be increased and plans to build new incinerators that will divert finite and valuable resources away from recycling must be scrapped."
Notes:
1. New DEFRA figures reveal that the total amount of municipal waste collected in 2007/2008 decreased by 2.2% of compared to previous year. The average annual change in municipal waste over the five years to 2007/08 was a decrease of 0.6 per cent.
From the statistical release at http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?space¬
ReleaseID=383423&NewsAreaID=2
3. For more information on the climate impacts of incineration see 'Dirty Truths', Friends of the Earth briefing, May 2007. View online at www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/dirty_truths.pdf
4. Friends of the Earth's general briefing on incineration, Up in Smoke: www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/up_in_smoke.pdf
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Nov 2008
