Byker Incinerator to stay shut (Greg Stone)

Byker Incinerator to stay shut

June 22, 2009 1:10 PM

Greg Stone has welcomed the Lib Dem council administration's pledge that the closed Byker incinerator will not be reopened.

The council is preparing a Waste Strategy that will see extra resources put into further reductions of waste generated in the city, following a massive increase in recycling levels under the Lib Dems. The previous Labour council had one of the poorest records on recycling in the country, and achieved notoriety after it emerged that it was responsible for dumping toxic ash from the Byker plant on allotments and footpaths across the city.

Under the Lib Dem proposals, a feasibility study will be carried out into developing a new municipal waste facility utilising clean technologies other than incineration, including gasification and autoclaving. This is likely to take a few years to construct, but assurances have been given that the Byker incinerator will not be reused in the interim. To avoid the city's waste continuing to go into landfill it is possible that consideration will be given to using the Teesside waste incinerator purely as a stop-gap measure until a new facility is available.

Greg Stone said "After Labour's awful record on recycling and on the Byker ash scandal when they ran the city, they simply cannot be trusted on the issue of waste and the environment. Along with East End residents, I am pleased that the city will not reopen the Byker incinerator, and I welcome plans for a new purpose built facility using greener technologies to deal with non-recyclable waste.

"Labour's environment spokesman has no integrity or credibility on this matter. Labour's stance on this issue is pure hypocrisy given that they have not issued a single word of criticism of the decision of Labour councils in Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland to build a brand new incinerator and to use the Teesside incinerator in the interim. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that their stance is based not on principle but on shallow political opportunism.

"By contrast, the Lib Dems are committed to reducing waste, increasing recycling, and avoiding long term use of either incineration or landfill for Newcastle's waste".