The aim of this CDR is to explain how municipal waste incineration has been adopted by local authorities in the UK, and why it is an unsafe practice that must cease.

Throughout the last two decades County Coucils throughout the UK have had to address a continuing problem - what to do with domestic waste.

It is the responsibility of the local authority to keep our domestic waste off the street. In the past much of this waste was sent to landfill. However, a combination of the lack of new landfill sites, and increasing awareness of the environmental hazards of landfill, has resulted in a need to find alternatives.

Councils needed a solution that was affordable, and wanted one that allowed them to forget about the problem. Waste incineration seemed the perfect answer. Private tender meant that the local authority officers could wash their hands of day to day involvement in organizing disposal; large incinerators meant minimal amounts of land had to be found; and incineration was thought to be "clean".

However, the waste that was burnt was massively under-regulated. And over the last two decades it has become increasingly apparent that it most certainly is not clean.

Although the pollution from incinerators appears to have gone down greatly as world environment regulations have been tightened, the kind of pollution produced has altered. These "new" pollutants, and the viable alternatives, are the subject of this web site.

The companies running the plants continue to put profits before people. And the councils also do not wish to face the need for change - after all it will cost money and time that unelected council officials [who make the real decisions] do not wish to spend.

Friends of the Earth break their opposition down in this way [source]:

As emissions standards continue to improve, costs will increase. For example, there is a new European draft waste incineration Directive. A study has estimated that retrofitting plants which already comply with the current law to comply with the new proposed law may be around £8 per tonne of waste - ♦   Incinerator operators may in the future find themselves liable for large litigation claims from local residents whose health has been damaged by the emissions. ♦   The landfill tax may be increased, and to be extended to incineration, so that the environmental costs of these waste disposal options are more fully reflected in the price paid for them. ♦   At present, many incinerators are subsidised by the Government through the Non-Fossil-Fuel- Obligation. This subsidy is to encourage renewable sources of energy. We believe that it should not be used to subsidise incineration (which burns fossil fuels in the form of plastics). If it were to be withdrawn, incineration would be much less financially attractive. ♦   Investment in recycling, on the other hand, will pay off more and more.