Newcastle City Council set to reject Byker incinerator
Jan 16 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
THE prospect of a new incinerator being built in Newcastle was virtually ruled out last night.
A report is due to go to the city council’s executive later this month on plans to deal with 40,000 tonnes a year of non-recyclable waste at the site of the controversial former Byker incinerator.
One of the options which will be explored is burning waste to produce energy.
A meeting of the city’s environment overview and scrutiny panel earlier this week pointed out that both political groups on the council had a long-standing opposition to incineration.
The panel ruled: “If possible, members would prefer to see this ruled out.”
A view is that 40,000 tonnes of rubbish is not enough to economically justify an incinerator in Newcastle.
Last night Wendy Taylor, council executive member for environment, said: “There is no way anyone is going to put an incinerator in Newcastle for 40,000 tonnes of waste. It is simply not efficient.”
But she said that asking for feedback on what would be the favoured option, burning waste for energy had to stay in the frame for contractual reasons.
Other options revolve around:
:: Turning waste into gas to provide energy (gasification)
:: Using high-temperature steam to “cook” and clean waste, leaving a fibrous material to use as roof tiles or fuel
:: Turning waste into fuel pellets and burning them instead of coal for industrial uses such as cement kilns.
The scrutiny panel expressed a clear preference for the gasification option.
Pressure is on Newcastle – and other councils – to come up with answers for dealing with non-recyclable waste to avoid future heavy financial penalties for excess use of landfill sites.
The scrutiny panel also wants the council, in assessing tenders for tackling the waste, to consider not just price, but also environment, regeneration and jobs.
On Tuesday The Journal reported how the BAN Waste community group had suspended its partnership agreement with council amid claims the authority has broken an agreement to give the group a two-month consultation period on the report.
But Coun Taylor branded the claims made by the group were unacceptable and totally wrong.
A BAN Waste spokesman said last night: “The council seems to consider the pure act of BAN Waste attending a meeting or being in partnership equates to them consulting with us in a meaningful way. “
:: Read more on this issue
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