Landfill tax fuels burning incentives

YORKSHIRE is facing a proliferation of huge waste incinerators over the coming years.

Three already operate around the region – at Sheffield, Huddersfield and Grimsby.

However, at least three more are now being planned.

Soaring landfill taxes mean councils have little choice but to try to find alternative ways of dealing with non-recyclable waste.

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Modern incinerators operate under tight emissions guidelines and are widely used on the continent, with health bodies reporting no adverse effects on people living nearby.

They are popular with governments because they can generate electricity and useful heat energy. The Knaresborough plant – the most advanced of the new schemes – will burn 320,000 tonnes of rubbish each year, creating 1.1MW of electricity to power 40,000 homes.

Leeds City Council is now planning its own incinerator in the east of the city, while Bradford and Calderdale councils have also joined forces to plan one in their local area.

A seventh regional incinerator could be built in east Yorkshire.

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But as protesters in North Yorkshire vociferously point out, alternatives do exist to incineration.

Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, North Lincolnshire and Wakefield councils all plan to build waste plants which use hi-tech thermal treatment methods instead of burning rubbish.

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