The charges related to the occupation of the incinerator in October when a group of Greenpeace volunteers closed the plant for four days by camping on top of the chimney. The incinerator is the largest in Britain and is run by London Waste which is owned by several north London boroughs and SITA. London Waste said that they lost 600,000 in revenue when the protesters occupied the incinerator.
But although Greenpeace saw the decision as a victory and said that it will send a powerful message to the government about public concerns over burning rubbish, London Waste said that the Crown prosecution trial was not about incineration as a method of waste disposal but about the structural damage which the protesters had been accused of causing to the chimney.
Paul Egan, a spokesman for London Waste, said: “We are disappointed with the decision. But what they said in Court is that this was not an enquiry about incineration but a case about criminal damage.”
He added: “We agree with Greenpeace that there should be more recycling but we differ in that we think that energy from waste is a better option than landfill.
“What Greenpeace failed to acknowledge in court was that London Waste’s energy from waste plant operates to stringent emission limits set down by the government, which take into account medical advice when set. The protestors were nave in the extreme. Not only did their actions damage the environment and disrupt residential waste collections but they also came close to provoking a crisis in some of London’s major hospitals.”
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