(Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op): I am reluctant to make this point to
my hon. Friend, because I am a good friend of his. Is he aware
that many of us who have specialised in this area over the years
think that energy from waste is absolutely part
of the answer to climate change, when it comes to the waste that
towns and cities create and do not want to take responsibility
for? Is he aware that modern energy from waste
can be excellent in scooping up that stuff, bringing us energy
and stopping us exporting waste all over the developing
world?
(Southampton, Test) (Lab): This debate is about incineration and
energy from waste and the way in which we can
dispose of our waste in an inefficient and climate-friendly way.
We have heard from a number of speakers in what has been an
excellent debate, particularly on the role of very large
incinerators in dealing with waste in future. We heard from my
hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth ()—whom I congratulate
on securing the debate—who is particularly concerned about the
effect of a very large old-style incinerator plant on his
constituency, local residents and air quality. There is a
question of whether the waste will be attracted to the plant,
which is not a municipal plant but a commercial plant—I
understand that a municipal plant is already in place in the
city...
...I am particularly concerned that, if we have any sort of
energy-from-waste facility for residual waste as
we move up the waste hierarchy, we should ensure that it recovers
the maximum energy possible, including heat for combined heat and
power. At the moment, the scheme that my hon. Friend the Member
for Cardiff South and Penarth mentioned does not have that
facility. In their waste strategy, the Government commit
themselves to ensuring that all new energy-from-waste plants are
in the category of “other recoverable”. That suggests that those
plants will have to have combined heat and power facilities to
maximise energy recovery, and that they will not be incinerators
with a bit of hobby electricity attached to them. I would be
grateful if the Minister assured me that that will be her policy
for the future of energy from waste and that she will
pursue that in considering what happens with energy-from-waste
plants. Among other things, that would ensure that plants that do
not have that sort of facility are not normally regarded as
suitable to receive planning permission...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
