To burn or not to burn
A waste of good rubbish?

by Andrew Green

There was an explosion at the incinerator at Bernard Road on 27 November. But it was minor and not dangerous, according to Onyx Ltd, who run the site. 

Andy Booth, of Sheffield Against Incineration (SAI), says that close to the scene of the explosion are stored large amounts of fly ash heavily contaminated with dioxin, the most toxic chemical known. Even a small release of fly ash could have disastrous consequences for residents only 250 metres away, and for the children at Park Hill school 500 metres away, he said. It’s just one more example of the controversies surrounding the incinerator, whose chimney was occupied by Greenpeace last May to draw attention to its frequent breaches of emission limits. 

The incinerator is to be demolished and a bigger one, with 30% more capacity, is planned instead. Onyx’s planning application has run into fierce opposition from SAI and RABID (Residents Against Bernard Road Incinerator Dust). 

Onyx assure us its planned ‘Energy Recovery Facility’ will have substantially better air pollution control systems than the current plant and is designed to meet strict emissions standards. Its appearance would be improved. As water heated by burning waste is piped to buildings in Sheffield city centre, and generates electricity, it will reduce fossil fuel use, so the energy produced is ‘green’. And incineration is better than taking waste to landfill sites like Parkwood. 

So why are RABID and SAI objecting? They say most of the ash (up to 25% of what goes into it) would still go to Parkwood landfill. As incineration concentrates dangerous substances in the ash, it would be hazardous. Another 5% of what’s burnt ends up as fly ash. Andy Booth told us: The current Sheffield incinerator produces 5000 tonnes of highly toxic fly ash a year, the planned one will produce even more. This hazardous waste will remain toxic for centuries when landfilled, a deadly legacy that could cause cancer and birth defects for generations to come.

Objectors say landfill need not be the alternative to incineration. Recycling could drastically reduce the need for both. Currently only 5% of Sheffield’s waste is recycled, but schemes elsewhere have raised that level to over 50%. Higher levels than this are possible, they argue in Getting to Zero Waste (available from RABID). Onyx should forget incineration and organise kerbside collections of waste which residents could sort ready for recycling. 

Karine Pellaumail of Friends of the Earth told a public meeting in Darnall on 12 January (organised by RABID) that the energy generated is not really ‘green’. Burning rubbish just uses it once, whereas recycling uses it again and again. Waste is not a renewable energy source, like wind or waves burning it produces pollutants and greenhouse gases. Greenpeace’s Mark Strutt agreed. Generating heat by burning refuse is like chopping up your furniture and putting it on the fire, he said. Incineration always produces pollution that’s why there’s a chimney stack, to disperse dangerous gases and particles. But highly toxic substances such as dioxins can be concentrated again through the food chain - plants to animals to us - because dioxins stay in the body.

The pollutants can cause a wide range of illnesses, from asthma to cancer. Onyx says amounts emitted are so small that they cannot cause harm. Objectors reply there are no safe limits. Why risk people’s health when the incinerator is not needed at all? An Onyx scientist agreed that This is a risk game there is no zero risk. 
If built, the incinerator must operate for 15 years or more to pay for itself. 

When Sheffield City Council invited tenders for waste disposal, they insisted incineration was part of any bid. Yet the council has not decided on a waste disposal policy or consulted the public. 

Most of Burngreave is less than a mile from the incinerator. We overlook the site, and the new building would be bigger than the present one. 

If you have opinions on the planning application write to:
Head of Planning Division, Department of Planning, Howden House, 1 Union Street, S1 2SH, quoting reference 9B/0948.