Council Warned Over Waste Importing (Paul Harrod)

Council Warned Over Waste Importing

July 22, 2008 2:47 PM

Paul Harrod and Bristol Lib Dems protest against the incinerator

Paul Harrod and Bristol Lib Dems protest against incinerator plans

Plans to "import and export" waste are environmentally damaging and expensive according to Paul Harrod, Prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol North West.

Speaking at a Bristol City Council meeting on Tuesday Mr Harrod attacked the Council's refusal to rule out a mass-burn incinerator which could lead to waste from across the region being imported into the City to be burnt.

"Hundreds of people across the City have signed our petition against these plans, and one of the most frequent causes for concern is the thought of increased lorry freight coming into the Avonmouth area bringing waste. With a new mass-burn incinerator any efforts residents made to reduce waste and increase recycling would simply be replaced by waste imported from elsewhere."

Mr Harrod also criticised the Council for sending some of Bristol's residual waste at the moment to places like Bedfordshire and Gloucestershire.

"There is no coherence to the Council's waste strategy" said Paul. "We export a lot of our waste by road when we have a perfectly good pyrolysis gasification plant already up and running in Avonmouth. While at the same time plans remain to build a new mass-burn incinerator in the same place which would almost certainly be used to take in waste from across the region."

"On top of all that recycling rates in Bristol have stalled, when under the Liberal Democrat administration from 2005 to 2007 rates increased dramatically from 12% to 40%."