The letter details a 10-point action plan on how plants can be phased out, and has been addressed to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and will be delivered to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Treasury.
The action plan calls for an immediate moratorium on new facilities, the inclusion of EfW in the UK’s emissions trading scheme and bans on the importing of refuse derived fuel to the UK and the export of plastics.
National coordinator of UKWIN, Shlomo Dowen, said: “The government needs to respond to the climate emergency by taking action right now, as there is no future in burning our way out of overconsumption. The UK is already suffering from too many waste incinerators releasing CO2 that is worsening climate change and pollutants that are harming our air quality.”
Mr Dowen added: “Preventing the construction and operation of even more incinerators is not a big ask. It is the very least the government can do to help us along the journey to zero waste and the circular economy.”
Enforcement
The plan also calls for “enhanced commitments to monitoring and reducing pollution from incineration”, including through unannounced inspections, more frequent monitoring of dioxins, stricter emissions limits, and more funding for enforcement.
The letter also highlighted the “social justice” concerns the groups have over plants, saying: “These steps are required given that incinerators are imposed on communities against their will, harming their air quality without their consent, and that incinerators are more likely to be built in poorer areas and in areas with higher racial and ethnic diversity. Everyone deserves clean air.”
The letter will be hand-delivered later “in a colourful procession”. It has been co-signed by Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and XR Zero Waste.
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