Moray Friends of the Earth
Campaigning for Environmental Justice
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Campaigning for Environmental Justice
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August 2007 Moray FoE asked to put paper together for SNP group in Moray Council outlining alternatives to incineration applicable to Moray. View paper May 2007 After the election, all 26 new Councillors in Moray contacted for their views on incineration. All councillors also given copies of documentation on the impacts of incineration. 3 of our elected representatives replied! February 2007 Our incineration campaign now has a name; Incineration: What a waste!! January 2007 At the present time we are writing to our councillors and MSPs to highlight the improvements in recycling facilities however we are expressing our concern about proposals for an incinerator, which will undermine these activities. We have asked FOE head office to make this campaigning national - they would like to do this but it is dependent on money! November 2006 Moray FOE had a stall at the farmers market in Elgin to help raise awareness of our campaign and to collect signatures for the anti-incineration petition. To date we have 419 signatures. October 2006 All 26 Moray councillors were asked if they were in principle, in favour of incineration/ “heat from waste” facilities or against them or undecided. These were the results; 4 were for incineration 3 did not have enough knowledge to reply 1 had no comment 1 follows the policies set by the Executive 1 thought there was potential for development 1 had no opinion 1 no conclusion 1 our comments were noted! 13 did not send any reply. September 2006 Alastair Keddie (chief executive) confirmed that the Moray council has had to undertake a holistic review of how they manage their waste, particularly the disposal of residual waste after maximum recycling. As Energy from waste is preferable to landfill on the waste hierarchy it has therefore to be considered. It was determined that one facility would be in the inner Moray Firth area, which includes Moray. He states further that energy from waste does not necessarily have to be incineration however it is he says a proven technology with exacting standards. The exact technology and locations have yet to be finalised and whichever technology and site is chosen would involve public consultation. Following this we asked the council what maximum levels of recycling meant however they could not us a definition! Summer 2006 Still no formal response from Moray Council. FoE Scotland used the Freedom of Information legislation to force the Scottish Executive to print some of the information contained in the Strategic Outline Cases (SOCs). These are requests from each waste area to the Scottish Executive for money to tackle waste issues. It appears that instead of waste reduction it is incineration that is the favoured option to replace landfill. For more details see: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/05/04092529/0 Moray FoE met up with other community groups to discuss options on how to allow the public to be involved on this issue. Some of the information that came out included:
March 2006 Moray Foe has launched a petition against the building of any incinerator. Instead we call upon The Moray Council to concentrate on waste prevention, resource reuse, expanding the current recycling infrastructure and small scale no-burn technologies, as ways or reducing our dependency on landfill. Copies of the petition can be downloaded as a PDF. These can be returned to the address at the bottom of the petition. February 2006 Despite numerous requests, there is still no formal position decided by the council on incineration. No formal policy has apparently been agreed by any of the political party groupings in The Moray Council. The ruling independent group seems to have no views or policy positions on anything and most Councillors do not respond to requests for information because they are apparently concerned that having views on the principle of incineration will prevent them voting on any proposals! However, the positions of some of the political party groups in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City Council is a little clearer - the Liberal Democrats and SNP appear against while the Tories appear in favour. At least they know their own minds and don't mind telling us. November 2005 Information released under the freedom of information show that The Moray Council have returned the grant it was given by the Scottish Executive for a large scale composting facility. Presentations by development contractors on the various types of incineration processes have been given to meetings of the Moray Council. However no official position by the Council is to be given to the public as no decision has been made on whether or not incinerators will be built! Attempts to be involved in this decision making process have so far been ignored. Rumours abound that up to three incinerators could be placed in Moray to take the waste from the whole of the North East and from East Highlands. August 2005 Front three pages of the Aberdeen Evening Express reveal that "masses of North-east rubbish could be sent by train to Moray for burning". The Northern Scot followed up with a front page article and an editorial which ended with the following: "Dumping rubbish in the ground cannot continue, but is incineration really the only acceptable solution? We do not want to solve one problem by creating another - and we don't want Moray to become a receptacle for our neighbours' refuse." June 2005 Requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act for further information have been sent to The Moray Council and the Scottish Executive. Copies of the MFoE bulletin 'Incineration - A Rough Guide' have been sent to Councillors and Community Councils. A statement detailing the Council's position regarding Heat from Waste given to Angus Robertson MP's office. It reads: "There are considerable challenges to increase diversion fro landfill and Moray has been working together with adjacent Local Authorities to establish a common strategy. At least three proposals are being further examined. The first is a proposal to undertake local ex-situ treatment of contaminated soils within the North of Scotland. Traditionally remediation has taken the form of 'dig and dump', i.e. removal and disposal of contaminated material to landfill sites. However, following the introduction of landfill tax, the escalating costs of landfill and the enactment of the Landfill Directive in July 2004, this option has been increasingly expensive. Indeed, combined with the haulage costs of removing contaminated materials to special waste sites, this option has proven to be cost prohibitive in an increasing number of cases. The second is composting of waste. Already used in a small way, the Council is convinced that there are further opportunities to develop composting centres. The third challenge is to deal with the residual waste and it is here that the Council considers that a plant producing Heat or Energy from waste could be developed. While there are some materials where the Council would not advocate incineration it is considered that waste biomass could fuel such a plant. An initial task is to find a large-scale user and the RAF bases at Kinloss and Lossiemouth would be prime customers so the support of the Armed Forces Minister at this initial stage is very encouraging. The Council would intend to develop the concept further with the Scottish Executive and adjacent Authorities and looks forward to working with the RAF on the issue." April 2005 Response obtained from The Moray Council: "As I have already mentioned on several occasions in the press the proposals in relation to an energy from waste facility are at an extremely early stage and have not at this point in time even reached the stage of being presented to Council Members for their views. You do have my assurance that should the project move beyond its current position there will be adequate provision made for full consultation with all interested parties in order to reassure the public that there is no pollution hazard associated with these proposals. Councillor E Coutts - Convener" March 2005 It appears likely that moves are afoot to site a waste incinerator in Moray. Hidden away in a story of RAF cuts in The Northern Scot (25 March 2005)was the following: "...the Council will also work with the Scottish Executive to progress plans for a plant producing heat or energy from waste. The council hopes to develop the proposal in conjunction with neighbouring authorities and sees both RAF bases as prime customers of the facility." Moray Foe are seeking clarification of this matters. It is our view that an incinerator is not a suitable or sustainable option for waste disposal in Moray. 2004 In Spring 2004 plans for a £40 million waste incinerator were rejected unanimously by Aberdeen City councillors. Planning chiefs said waste giant SITA had failed to prove the plant was safe. Campaigners from Aberdeen FoE were involved in the campaign to prevent the building of the incinerator. Resources
Moray FoE Bulletin 'Incineration - A Rough Guide' PDF Petition 'No Incinerator' PDF Friends of the Earth Scotland Report 'Incineration - or something sensible?' PDF Greenpeace: Incineration Campaign Hompage Moray Foe Members pages - article on incineration |
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