Can the safety of incinerators be guaranteed? How are they regulated and what controls are there on emissions?
The Environment Agency licenses sites for waste, and it is the Agency who sets the targets for emissions, through European legislation, which we believe to be very stringent indeed. The old style incinerators, that did not meet these standards, have all been shut down. Sensationalist reporting in the press was largely based on this outdated information. Such a site could not be built and operated unless the EA was satisfied that the health issues were not a problem. We are of course well aware of the concerns that people have about incineration, and we all need to be clear whether or not these are well founded. The balance of current research suggests that fumes from traffic constitute a very much greater risk to health and the environment than any incinerator. However, we will be keeping up to date with the latest research on this important topic, as we continue to prepare the Minerals and Waste Development Framework.
