WHEN Councillor Andy D’Agorne speaks on environmental issues (Letters, July 27) I listen, because he often speaks good sense.

However, why for once can he not support a scheme that ticks every environmental box – the Allerton energy from waste plant?

I asked Andy a while back what was the Greens’ alternative to incineration; he told me: “anaerobic digestion”. Allerton will have that.

Are emissions an issue? No; noxins and toxins are removed by a combination of combustion temperatures and filtration – why else does the Environment Agency approve these modern plants?

So, unable to find justification for the Greens’ traditional objections to everything realistic that is good for the community, Andy opposes the contract’s waste targets. Albeit, failure to achieve these targets would be a sign of successful waste reduction and is probably cheaper than landfill tax.

Nevertheless, if commercial waste is required to achieve the waste targets, is that a problem? Zero waste within the next 25 years is not realistic and where else would the waste go? At least with Allerton we have the opportunity to recycle, produce electricity from waste and reduce ‘landfill’.

Coun Joe Watt, Skelton, Rawcliffe & Clifton Without, City of York Council.