The report said that the evidence on environmental effects from waste management is limited. It added: “Such as there is, it does not appear to suggest adverse environmental affects of waste management, other than those we know about and are already addressing, such as methane emissions from landfill.”
In particular, the report almost seems to be giving a clean bill of health to energy from waste. It says conclusions can be drawn “that risks to human health from incineration are small in comparison to other known risks”.
Commenting on the report, environment minister Elliot Morley said: “We must acknowledge the role of incineration with energy recovery as a sustainable waste management option although the priority must be waste minimisation, reuse and recycling.
“Incineration is an option for dealing with the residual waste that will still be left even after achieving the much higher levels of recycling and reuse we are aiming for in helping absorb the diversion of municipal waste from landfill which we are required to make under the Landfill Directive.”
On composting and mechanical biological targets the report raises the issue of bioaerosols which are associated with these facilities.
Register for free to comment