New South London incinerator by stealth?

19.03.10

Press Release (immediate):

IS THE NEW GASIFICATION INCINERATOR A PLOY TO SMUGGLE THE SOUTH LONDON INCINERATOR THROUGH THE BACK DOOR?

A new gasification incinerator planned for Beddington could potentially end up being the South London incinerator leaving the wider consultation immaterial.

Green Party spokesperson Shasha Khan said:

“A separate South London incinerator appears to have been smuggled past us in a piecemeal fashion whilst our minds remain focused on the South London Waste Plan consultation.

“What we have discovered beggars belief. If this waste site is indeed separate to the South London Waste Plan, we are looking at nearly 1m tonnes of waste being transported through Beddington Lane. We estimate this will easily equate to 50,000 truck journeys(1) per year.

“Something definitely underhand is at play because one only needs to see the applicant’s web site to see that their only motivation is profit, and they reckon they have mastered the “black arts” of the planning process to push the incinerator through.”

Partner Bioflame’s home page (2) entitled “Profit from waste”, states:

“You will learn how we deliver the often black art of planning permission, environmental permission, grid connection, funding, and ultimate project delivery and be able to visit live working plant at full scale that you can bang with a hammer!”

Originally, Country Waste Recycling had permission to receive 200,000 tonnes of building waste, including asbestos and PVC, in Beddington. 40,000 tonnes of this waste was of wood origin. This was transported around the corner into the landfill site.

Shasha Khan explained:

” In September 2009 Country Waste received planning permission to increase this quantity to 350,000 tonnes of waste and to build a giant shed. However, most worryingly of all, they succeeded in acquiring permission to vary the waste type on the proviso that they would deal with the permits from the Environment Agency.”


Shasha (3) continued,

“Now Country Waste Recycling have joined forces with Bioflame to form a spin off company called Beddington Heat and Power. This new company now wants to handle 500,000 tonnes of waste, but in addition to this increase they are applying for a gasification incinerator to burn 30,000 tonnes of waste wood (4). Despite grandiose claims by waste companies, a gasification plant is the same as an incinerator. It heats the waste materials, and then burns the gases, resulting in dioxins and other pollutants escaping into the air we breathe. It’s an incinerator in disguise. A significant amount of the wood that will be burnt will have been treated with creosote, lead based paint and even arsenic.

“Beddington Heat and Power claim that there will be 3000 less lorry journeys around the corner to landfill site. However, like a conjurer they are keen for us to miss the increased number of miles covered for an additional 150,000 tonnes of waste being transported to the site.

“I am really concerned these profiteering waste contractors see Sutton and Croydon as an easy touch. They can see the area affected by the pollution is Beddington and North East Croydon. This is a relatively poor community, in stark contrast to the village of Capel, Surrey who had wealthy residents to fund a legal campaign that defeated the proposed Surrey mass burn incinerator. Indeed Surrey County Council now needs to find an alternative site to dispose of its waste. This would explain why Surrey County Council had the audacity to submit a response to the first South London Waste Plan consultation.

“If planning is granted then we are many steps closer to a waste site which is equivalent to the South London Waste Plan incinerator in size – without the need for a consultation. This application must be thrown out!”

Ends

Notes:
1) The South London Waste Incinerator will handle 480,000 tonnes of waste. If planning is approved a new waste site will handle a separate 500,000 tonnes of building waste. If it is assumed that the new South London incinerator will be built in Beddington, that equals 980,000 waste transported there.
2) http://www.bioflame.co.uk/
3) Shasha Khan founded the Stop the Incinerator campaign
4) The site will have 100,000 tonnes of wood, so they would be keen to apply for another incinerator if this application is successful

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Tags croydon, greenparty