Haringey to discuss support for Edmonton EfW plant

The Lib Dems will table a motion proposing that the council pauses and reconsiders its support for the project at an extraordinary meeting of Labour-controlled Haringey’s full council this evening (17 January).

It also proposes lobbying other boroughs to do the same.

The existing 500,000 tonnes per year capacity Edmonton plant is to be knocked down and replaced with a 700,000 tonnes per year capacity facility, scheduled to be operational in 2025.

The project will be overseen by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA), which manages waste on behalf of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest, serving more than two million people.

Last month, the NLWA appointed Madrid-based construction company Acciona to carry out the construction (see letsrecycle.com story).

Haringey was the only one of the seven boroughs that voted against the proposals and the NLWA and Acciona will formally sign the £683 million deal tomorrow.

In November, Cllr Peray Ahmet, the Labour leader of Haringey council, broke rank from the other six local authorities involved with the project to write to the NLWA to ask them to “pause and review” the redevelopment of the plant (see letsrecycle.com story).

Protest

The motion was proposed by Cllr Scott Emery, Haringey Lib Dems’ spokesperson for the environment.

Here today with local residents and @StopTheRebuild to make our voices heard against the Edmonton incinerator.

Tomorrow, Haringey councillors have a chance to vote against the incinerator and I’m hoping @HaringeyLabour will listen to the people and vote with us pic.twitter.com/1P5Yi2cxp1

— Cllr Scott Emery (@ScottEmery92) January 16, 2022

Yesterday, Cllr Emery attended a protest against the plant and posted a video on social media in which he said: “I’m here today with the people of Edmonton and the people of Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Camden – all the people this incinerator will affect.

“I’m here today supporting the community and to make sure their voices are heard. They are vey loud and very proud in trying to stop this incinerator.”

Cllr Emery added: “We’ve got a massive vote in Haringey. For the first time, Haringey councillors are going to be able to get a vote about whether this incinerator will go ahead.

“I’m proposing a motion to make sure that that doesn’t happen. I’m hoping Labour councillors will support me on that.”

‘Obsolete and possibly illegal’

As part of their motion, the Lib Dems propose consulting local communities on their views on how to dispose of waste, working with the NLWA to prepare an alternative plan for waste disposal “which does not involve incineration”, and investing in increasing Haringey’s recycling rate.

According to the Lib Dem’s motion, the continuation of the project is “incompatible” with carbon reduction goals.

In fact, the motion suggests the plant is likely to become “obsolete and possibly illegal” well before the end of its predicted lifespan, given the government’s CO₂ reduction goals.

The plant would “undermine recycling” by causing a demand for waste, according to the motion, while “presenting landfill and incineration as the only two solutions to dealing with waste is misleading and inaccurate”.

The motion also suggests that building the plant in Edmonton, close to the border with Tottenham, will “worsen both economic and racial health disparities”.

Edmonton

The NLWA’s existing EfW plant in Edmonton is decades old.

The replacement facility would power up to 127,000 homes and provide heat to a district network for up to 50,000 homes and businesses, the NLWA says.

It also says it is “pushing” ahead to bring carbon capture and storage onboard “as soon as possible”.

However, the project has been subject to intense protest and criticism from several notable figures, including Edmonton MP Kate Osamor, North Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn, and Chingford and Woodford MP Iain Duncan Smith.