letter to the Gazette, 2/5/11
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colchesterfoeColchester Daily Gazette, letters page.
Last chance for Essex County Council to drop the costly waste disposal contracts
Dear Editor,
As local elections loom we should not forget that the 2008 Colchester election featured the county council's plans for massive waste disposal plants - including incineration, against the Conservative administration's pledges since 2001. The Colchester LibDem/Labour/Independent coalition was formed and was the only Essex council to oppose the county council's plans.
The county council's bid for the widely-discredited and costly PFI finance was approved - in spite of it officially needing the support of all the district councils. The 28.5 year waste disposal contracts immediately went out to tender. Publicly-accessible regular county council meetings of the Joint Waste Management committees for the East, West and the South areas were stopped.
Other councils such as Chelmsford and Tendring had at these public meetings voiced their concerns about the huge costs to the Essex council taxpayers of these contracts. But plans were agreed to build massive Mechanical Biological Treatment plants which shred and dry our valuable resources left in the rubbish bags to turn them into polluting fuel to burn in an incinerator.
This commits Essex taxpayers to pay to destroy our valuable resources for three decades, increasing climate change gases and transport pollution including CO2, NOx and dioxins. This will lose the high value of recyclates and stop us complying with the UK commitment to cut climate change gases by a third by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. Are we being serious?
These contracts are to be rubberstamped imminently. But across the UK some councils are trying to cancel long-term costly contracts and drop plans for incinerators as recycling and composting become normal and levels of 60% or more are achieved. Our UK reprocessors, such as Aylesford paper, Berriman glass and our plastic reprocessors are pleading for clean recyclate.
Essex recycling has been rising steadily each year from 30% in 2005. ECC leader Peter Martin said that Essex will be recycling around 50% this year. Some councils already recycle over 60%. Separate food waste collections to make renewable energy and compost in Anaerobic Digestion plants are strongly supported by Government and are being set up across the UK and in Essex.
Ask your election candidates if they support or will pledge to oppose the Tory county council approving these contracts. Now is the time for Essex County Council to cancel the hugely costly waste disposal contracts and lead the way towards total recycling and composting and Zero Waste in Essex over the next decade.
Yours sincerely,
Paula Whitney, Co-ordinator,
Colchester & North East Essex Friends of the Earth,
4 Shears Crescent, West Mersea, Essex, CO5 8AR.
Last chance for Essex County Council to drop the costly waste disposal contracts
Dear Editor,
As local elections loom we should not forget that the 2008 Colchester election featured the county council's plans for massive waste disposal plants - including incineration, against the Conservative administration's pledges since 2001. The Colchester LibDem/Labour/Independent coalition was formed and was the only Essex council to oppose the county council's plans.
The county council's bid for the widely-discredited and costly PFI finance was approved - in spite of it officially needing the support of all the district councils. The 28.5 year waste disposal contracts immediately went out to tender. Publicly-accessible regular county council meetings of the Joint Waste Management committees for the East, West and the South areas were stopped.
Other councils such as Chelmsford and Tendring had at these public meetings voiced their concerns about the huge costs to the Essex council taxpayers of these contracts. But plans were agreed to build massive Mechanical Biological Treatment plants which shred and dry our valuable resources left in the rubbish bags to turn them into polluting fuel to burn in an incinerator.
This commits Essex taxpayers to pay to destroy our valuable resources for three decades, increasing climate change gases and transport pollution including CO2, NOx and dioxins. This will lose the high value of recyclates and stop us complying with the UK commitment to cut climate change gases by a third by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. Are we being serious?
These contracts are to be rubberstamped imminently. But across the UK some councils are trying to cancel long-term costly contracts and drop plans for incinerators as recycling and composting become normal and levels of 60% or more are achieved. Our UK reprocessors, such as Aylesford paper, Berriman glass and our plastic reprocessors are pleading for clean recyclate.
Essex recycling has been rising steadily each year from 30% in 2005. ECC leader Peter Martin said that Essex will be recycling around 50% this year. Some councils already recycle over 60%. Separate food waste collections to make renewable energy and compost in Anaerobic Digestion plants are strongly supported by Government and are being set up across the UK and in Essex.
Ask your election candidates if they support or will pledge to oppose the Tory county council approving these contracts. Now is the time for Essex County Council to cancel the hugely costly waste disposal contracts and lead the way towards total recycling and composting and Zero Waste in Essex over the next decade.
Yours sincerely,
Paula Whitney, Co-ordinator,
Colchester & North East Essex Friends of the Earth,
4 Shears Crescent, West Mersea, Essex, CO5 8AR.
