DEATH OF INCINERATOR OPENS NEW
OPPORTUNITIES
...THE GREEN PARTY HAS SET OUT A NEW TEN POINT PLAN FOR
DEALING WITH NORFOLK'S WASTE AFTER TODAY'S DECISION BY THE COUNTY
COUNCIL TO KILL OFF THE KINGS LYNN INCINERATOR PROJECT...
It would be
based on what is known as Zero Waste principles, to be developed in
co-operation with District Councils. It would involve a shift away from
a single industrial-scale solution such as incineration towards a
mixture of more localised facilities for boosting recycling and
reclamation, and mechanical biological solutions while, crucially,
helping householders produce less waste.
Green Party county councillor
Andrew Boswell said:
"The Greens have been consistent in their
opposition to incineration for ten years. Naturally, we are pleased that
the saga has finally come to an end with no incinerator built. However,
there's no disguising the scale of the financial penalty the Council,
and Council tax payers, must pay. This was avoidable and a full Inquiry
is now needed.
"What I think we need now is a reformed team at the
council to work on an entirely new approach. Norfolk's "Plan B" for
waste management could offer some imaginative new options that are both
environmentally friendly and profitable to local companies."
It would
mean:
MOVING the treatment of Norfolk's rubbish up the waste hierarchy
and meeting County targets for reducing and eliminating landfill;
ABANDONING single, industrial scale solutions, such as incineration;
ADOPTING a range of smaller, more localised solutions and contracts,
with local contractors and entrepreneurs. This means dealing with
rubbish closer to where it is generated. It also reduces the risk of
huge financial penalties as suffered with bloated projects such as the
incinerator with multi-national companies;
EXPANDING building on the
success of small to medium scale anaerobic digestion waste plants,
already happening in Norfolk, and on the food waste schemes happening in
Norwich and elsewhere;
EVALUATING the framework contract negotiated by
Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk with 'Material Works' as
a contractual model for implementing processing plants for green waste
across Norfolk's districts;
DEVELOPING plans with providers who have
been 'raring to go' for years on creating reclamation and re-use schemes
- we should create several of these "Recovery Park" sites across
Norfolk;
INCREASING the recycling rate of 70% towards at least 80% by
the end of the decade;
WORKING with District Councils to reduce
residual household waste, building on the new strategy at Norwich City
Council that seeks to help householders generate less waste in first
place;
ESTABLISHING green sector business incubators, and encouraging
local entrepreneurs to work with the Local Enterprise Partnership and
others to deliver the new ways of working.;
AVOIDING incineration
technologies, such as those in Amsterdam or Suffolk, wherever possible,
where short-term interim solutions are required for Norfolk's waste
whilst the new policy is developed.
Rupert Read, lead Green
MEP-candidate for the East of England, commented: "Alongside Andrew
Boswell, Adrian Ramsay, Michael De Whalley and a host of other Greens, I
have been working for this day for over a decade. Congratulations to all
the anti-incinerator campaigners in greater Norwich, in West Norfolk,
and elsewhere, who have worked tirelessly to stop this absurd outdated
technology from hungrily burning up all the resources that should
instead be re-used or re-cycled.
"But today is a day of humiliation
for the Labour Leader of the County Council, George Nobbs, and for the
Conservative ex-Leader, Bill Borrett. Their judgement has been shown to
be appallingly bad; it has cost the taxpayers of Norfolk millions of
pounds. It is time for them to move aside in this matter and let those
who judgement has been vindicated lead the way forward to a 21st century
zero-waste solution for Norfolk. I commend the Green 10-point-plan to
the people of Norfolk."
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