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Leeds incinerator scheme under fire
Camapigners fighting plans to build an incinerator in Leeds are urging the council to rethink its proposal for a rubbish-burning plant in Leeds.
The No Incineration in Leeds (NIL) group fears that under the controversial plan, the city will end up burning some waste that could be recycled.
It argues that better technologies are available for dealing with the city’s household waste that is unrecyclable.
Liberal Democrat councillors are also calling for the scheme to be reconsidered, arguing that circumstances have changed since the council first started to look at the possibility of building an incinerator six years ago.
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The council recently announced it intended to choose Veolia Environmental Services Aurora to build the electricity-generating plant on the former wholesale market site off Pontefract Lane in Cross Green.
To be built under a 25-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal, the council argues the incinerator will be safe, well-screened, could provide power for 20,000 homes and could save the city £200m over 25 years by avoiding landfill taxes.
But NIL warns the council could find itself locked into a contract that would be difficult to meet as households continue to reduce, re-use and recycle.
It added: “We believe that the taxpayer should not be subsidising a project which burns material that could be recycled. There are several better alternatives.
“Recycling technology is constantly improving and there have been several developments and better technologies since the process began six years ago.”
Coun Stewart Golton, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat group, said: “People tell us that they want to recycle as much as possible. The collection of food waste is a roaring success in Rothwell, and if spread to the rest of the city could make significant improvements to our recycling performance.”
He also noted that the commercial operator, Biffa, had plans to build their own “energy from waste” facility in the Aire Valley.
He said that although intended to cater for commercial waste, the firm had stated that they would have the capacity to handle domestic waste.
Subject to planning approval, the incinerator could be operational by 2015 or early 2016.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 5 comments to this article
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eastleeds
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 10:34 AMLAURA B.......... and neither does it say as recycling rises and less waste is available then veolia will start shipping it in from other areas just like the sheffield site has done and also leeds city council have locked us into a long term contract where if we fail to supply the required amount we will still be charged at full rate ......................
lauraB
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:30 AMWhat this article does not say is that a recycling facility will be built as part of the solution to recover materials that can be recycled before burning the residual waste... Please make sure to display accurate information.
eastleeds
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 08:00 PMin reply to pete . .......landfill is falling due to recycling rates going up ,the electricity that MAY or MAY NOT be produced will be of no benefit to locals as it will go straight into the grid and as for how it looks that doesn't excuse the risk it poses to the residents of east leeds nor does it make it a good deal for any leeds resident under the PFI rip off scheme ....... Leeds city council are using residents names to guarantee a large scale long term loan so a private company with a proven track record of releasing toxic gas into local area ,illegal storage and fire of chemicals and various other convictions can run a business in the area using tax payers money that will pose a great risk to residents ........Mark Dobson is the man responsible for environmental services on the executive board and he refuses to answer our questions about VEOLIA and their previous convictions .........the residents dont want it ,the councilors dont want it ,hilary benn lees MP doesnt want it ,its a clear case of leeds city council ignoring the people who actually give them the right to exist .
peter.batley1
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 03:56 PMim all for having a incinerator we cant keep putting rubbish on a landfill if it going to look like the picture i dont see any problems it will give power to 20.000 homes and give people work much better than being dumped on a landfill
luvmeteam
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 03:09 PMJust want to say i don,t live in cross green,but it didn,t come as a suprise that the area was chosen for the site,feel sorry for residents there as it always seems to get the rough end of the stick.It,s not the prettiest of areas and the council are making sure it stays that way.
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