THE possibility of a waste incinerator for York and North Yorkshire has burst on to our horizons and caught us unawares over the sleepy Christmas period.
I realise that we have to stop sending so much to landfill sites, but incineration cannot be the solution. Incinerators are so expensive that there will surely be little money or energy left over to invest in increasing recycling rates.
The report into waste strategies produced for City of York Council is pessimistic about increasing recycling further, but this is just not justified.
A quick Google search on "incinerators" brought up a report comparing the UK's recycling levels (about 20 per cent) with the rest of Europe; only Ireland and Greece are worse. Many countries recycle about 50 per cent, California manages 42 per cent, and even some UK local authorities (like Bath and Lichfield) are on track to achieve 50 per cent by 2008. Incinerators do worse still; they demand a certain level of waste to "feed" them - this isn't the option for York.
Cath Heinemeyer,
Kyme Street, York.
Updated: 12:01 Tuesday, January 24, 2006
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