The current incinerator in Edmonton

• CAMDEN’S decision to build a new incinerator in Edmonton with an increased capacity of burning 700,000 tonnes of waste, will be an environmental disaster capable of emitting thousands of extra tonnes of CO2 and highly toxic ultrafine part particles, such as PM2-5, that would be detrimental to the health of every Londoner and also make a mockery of Camden clean air policies.

Apart from the catastrophic environmental consequences, the economics for this flawed project are also on very shaky grounds when it comes to creating energy from burning the waste.

All experts agree that incineration is one of the most expensive ways of producing energy when compared with the readily available alternatives such as wind or solar voltaic; the latter being some 16 times more economic to produce one kilowatt of energy than that of an incinerator when taking into account the cost of building it, which is between an eye-watering £750million and £1billion – excluding running costs which in future could increase by a government carbon tax.

One of their main arguments for going ahead with this is that it avoids sending waste to landfills. But we know this to be untrue, as the incinerator produces tonnes of highly toxic ash which is full of dangerous chemicals like dioxins that do need to be buried and can’t go to ordinary landfills, as they need to be placed in special sites to prevent leakage. This is 10 times more expensive; so you are not only polluting the air but also the land.

According to The Guardian of December 14, the all-party group on air pollution, chaired by Geraint Davies MP, said the expansion of the Edmonton incinerator should be stopped.

They also heard evidence from Ruggero Ridolfi, an oncologist with more than 40 years’ experience, who found heavy metals in the toenails of children living near incinerators and highlighted the link with acute childhood leukemia.

Creating a waste-eating monster such as this, that requires constant feeding to justify its exorbitant cost and existence, will inevitably disincentivise any form of reducing, recycling, or reusing, and does nothing to encourage the creation of green jobs; but instead, will end up spewing out on Londoners its mixture of poisonous pollutants containing some of the most hazardous compounds known.

MIKE GEORGE
Queen’s Crescent, NW5