Director General of British Plastic Federation has a pop.
Response to Peter Davis letter
27.07.09
Dear Sir
Peter Davis thinks that the Green Party is misleading readers when it warns local people about the risks of incineration. To qualify his assumption, he reels off some emission percentages. I could easily counter his argument with a set of telling statistics but I am aware that the public is becoming tired of data being spun to demonstrate one’s case. Instead, I would prefer to investigate the figures he presents.
Mr Davis states that Energy from Waste (EfW) incineration, just like the domestic heating, iron and steel industries, releases dioxins into the air but in lower quantities. I am pleased that Mr Davis recognises EfW releases harmful emissions. Just this month, a representative from the EfW industry, who was touting business for his own company, told the GLA Environment Committee that his plant was a closed system with no emissions! The fact is there are always harmful emissions. If they do not escape into the air, they take the form of a toxic sludge which if not sealed correctly leaks into the water table.
It is also absurd to compare incinerators with smelting works because the government is not planning to roll out a new generation of steel plants in residential areas. Not only that, his rationale is that existing pollution makes new pollution acceptable. The government is already facing prosecution and serious fines for exceeding safe air pollution levels.
However, the most revealing part of his letter is that Mr Davis is the Director-General of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) - a body that would relish a new generation of privately run incinerators that lock councils in to providing high waste streams for up to 35 years. It would mean that that the plastics industry would not be required to reduce the variety of plastics it produces, including chlorinated plastic and other forms that cannot be recycled or safely disposed. Furthermore, it secures the produce, consume and dispose approach that members of the BPF arguably favour to maintain profits as opposed to a zero waste strategy, which will undoubtedly slash margins.
The Green Party is all about the health of people before profits. What we are seeing thanks to our revelations are stakeholders and the other political parties running for cover as the desired outcome of the South London Waste Plan unfolds.
Yours sincerely
Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party
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Tags croydon, greenparty
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