Wyre Forest Against Incineration

24/04/2025

Good to see this in a local publication. Unfortunately they have repeated the falsehoods from PGM about "waste from the local area", "low carbon energy" and "100 jobs". These have all been refuted on this page and in our campaign.

A COUNCILLOR has hit out at the building of an incinerator on Stourport Road, Kidderminster, saying it will have a detrimental impact.

20/11/2024

INCINERATORS - BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, PEOPLE & FINANCE
Aviva Investors – one of the UK’s biggest pension funds – has lost more than £350m on a series of “calamitous” investments in incinerator power plants that are expected to go bust in the coming days.

The Guardian understands that will put three incinerators into administration this week after pouring millions of pounds into what has been described as the country’s “dirtiest form of power generation”.

Aviva’s own accounts show that the three incinerator plants – in Hull in East Yorkshire, Boston in Lincolnshire and Barry in south Wales – accumulated loans totalling £480m from its investors between 2015 and 2023.

Aside from the financial challenges, generating energy from burning waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions compared with renewable power and deters efforts to cut single-use plastics and improve recycling.

Shlomo Dowen, a campaigner at the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN), said: “at a time when all efforts should be made to improve air quality, incinerators are harming the air that we breathe. And that is just one example of why incinerators are experienced as bad neighbours.”

Dowen urged the UK government to follow Wales and Scotland in banning new incinerators.

Rudy Schulkind, a political campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “We can’t burn our way out of this growing waste problem. Nearly half the rubbish from UK homes is now being sent to incinerators, and even more of them are being planned.

“This isn’t an issue just for the disproportionately poor communities whose lives are blighted by the traffic, smell, noise and air pollution from these facilities. Partly thanks to the growing amount of plastic ending up in our bins, incinerators are also a major source of planet-heating emissions, with some experts branding them the country’s dirtiest form of power generation.”

He added that the “real solution” to Britain’s waste problem was producing less waste in the first place.

“We should start by setting legally binding targets to cut plastic production, and next week’s UN summit in South Korea gives the UK government an excellent opportunity to push for effective action on the global stage,” he said.

Shareholder accuses Aviva Investors of ‘calamitous’ investments as three sites expected to go bust

19/11/2024

Hundreds have marched in Weymouth against an incinerator on the Isle of Portland after the Labour government allowed the applicant's appeal on the refusal by Dorset County Council.

This large-scale incinerator, operating 24/7, is planned for the middle of a UNESCO World Heritage site, with truck movements through Weymouth and Portland, and causing air quality issues.

Campaigners hope to overturn the decision legally.

Campaigners are concerned about the burning of waste for environmental and health reasons.

18/10/2024

Anti-incineration campaigners know this:
BBC / THE BURDEN OF THE UK'S WASTE IS DISPROPORTIONATELY FALLING ON DEPRIVED AREAS. They are 10 times more likely to have an “energy-from-waste” incinerator in their midst than in the wealthiest areas

"We have been inundated with flies, rats, smell, noise. It's just been horrendous,” says Mandy Royle, who lives in the closest home to the UK’s biggest waste incinerator at Runcorn in Cheshire.

The facility generates electricity from burning nearly a million tonnes of household rubbish every year - but much of that waste doesn't come from Ms Royle's local area. Like many incinerators, deliveries come from hundreds of miles away.

BBC analysis suggests the burden of the UK's waste is disproportionately falling on deprived areas such as Runcorn, which are 10 times more likely to have an energy-from-waste incinerator in their midst than in the wealthiest areas.

Many families nearby shared a £1m settlement after 180 of them launched a legal action over the pollution and disturbances from the Runcorn incinerator, the BBC can reveal.

But Ms Royle was one of a handful of people who did not sign the agreement, allowing her to speak out about life in the shadow of one of the UK's giant waste plants.

“I’m just stuck in this little corner with a big monster staring at me and throwing what it does over me,” she says.

The others who took the cash, worth about £4,500 per family after legal costs, had to sign a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

More here:

The UK's burden of waste is disproportionately falling on deprived areas, where residents have spoken to the BBC.

17/10/2024

Anti-incineration campaigners know this:
BBC / BURNING RUBBISH NOW THE UK’S DIRTIEST FORM OF POWER

"Burning household rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power, BBC analysis has found.

"Nearly half of the rubbish produced in UK homes, including increasing amounts of plastic, is now being incinerated. Scientists warn it is a “disaster for the climate” - and some are calling for a ban on new incinerators.

"The BBC examined five years of data from across the country, and found that burning waste produces the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power, which was abandoned by the UK last month.

Spewing out of incinerators, often given the sugar-coated name of "energy from waste plants" is CO2, Methane, CO (carbon monoxide), nitrous oxides and other gases which contribute to the Greenhouse Effect and hence Climate Change.

Nearly half of waste is now burned for energy, but BBC analysis finds it is as dirty as coal.

15/10/2024

We are aware of reports that preparatory work for the Incinerator on Stourport Rd, behind the Evtec Aluminium Foundry, has started. The work is starting at this time to comply with the requirement to begin "construction" within 3 years of the planning permission being granted by Worcestershire County Council.

Since there isn't a high demand for further waste disposal capacity in Worcestershire, the beginning of work at this time is likely to ensure that the project keeps ticking over rather than be set back to square one.

There will be a full statement by this page soon. Thanks.

pic: Artist's impression published by Power Generation Midland