No need for Incineration for West London, if we followed the Germans!

Link to The Guardian 'Germany series'

"Located in the south-western state of Rheinland-Pfalz and set in the heart of Palatinate wine-growing region, the predominantly middle-class, medieval town of Neustadt boasts the best recycling rates in Germany. Over the past 30 years, the town has nurtured and refined a system that means it now recycles about 70% of its waste – 16% higher than the state target. By comparison, UK recycling rates average about 40% – up from just 5% in the mid-1990s.

"At the recycling depot, one of the town's waste managers Stefan Weiss moves on to the subject of enforcement. Or rather, the lack of it.

"In theory, we have the power to fine people if they don't sort their waste. But we never do this because it costs too much to investigate. And we just don't have an issue with flytipping because we make the system so cheap and easy to use. We still get the odd complaint about the move to fortnightly collections, or that our bins are ugly, but that really is about it."

Reminder of WLWP incinerator proposals

Brent, Ealing, Hillingdon, and/or Hounslow, West London:

Potential 114,000 - 228,000 tpa facility

The West London Waste Plan: Draft Consultation Document (October 2010) indicates:

• two gasification/pyrolysis incinerators as the 'indicative number of facilities required to meet' the apportionments in the 2008 London Plan, and 
• one gasification/pyrolysis incinerator as the 'indicative number of facilities required to meet' the apportionments in the 2009 draft Replacement London Plan [Source].

The landtake per facility for gasification/pyrolysis is listed as 2.25ha. 

Sites identified as proposed new sites for waste management facilities (not necessarily incineration) that are above 2.25ha: 

• Abbey Road, Park Royal (Brent); 
• Rail Sidings, Premier Park Road, Park Royal (Brent); 
• Hannah Close /Great Central Way, Wembley (Brent); 
• Park Royal (Ealing); Atlas Road, Park Royal (Ealing); 
• Council Depot, Forward Drive (Harrow); 
• Silverdale Road Industrial Area (Hillingdon); 
• Yeading Brook, Former Powergen Site, Bulls Bridge (Hillingdon); 
• Tavistock Road Coal Depot, West Drayton (Hillingdon); 
• Vacant Site Western International Market (Hounslow).

Existing sites listed as having potential for re-development larger than 2.25ha: 

• Veolia Transfer Station, Marsh Road, Alperton (Brent); 
• Victoria Road Waste Transfer Station (Hillingdon); 
• Transport Avenue Waste Transfer Station (Hounslow).
  

The Independent: "PepsiCo launches green bottle made entirely from grass, bark and corn husks"

Link to 'The Independent'

"The battle for environmental supremacy among plastic bottled, carbonated beverage-makers, is on.

"PepsiCo announced earlier this week that it had developed the world's first plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based materials - a clear show of one-upmanship to their closest rival."

"Unfinished London" on YouTube - The Underground, and the Ringway Motorways

Mayor's recently adopted 'Park Royal Planning Framework' - location of several West London Waste Plan proposed sites

Link to london.gov.uk

On 25 January 2011, the Mayor adopted a planning framework for Park Royal, which now sits as supplementary planning guidance to the London Plan. The Mayor said:

"The London Plan identifies Opportunity Areas across the capital, in places with the potential to accommodate substantial numbers of new jobs, homes or both. Park Royal is such an area, with a unique set of challenges and opportunities. The area is covered by the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham, and directly abutts the Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area."

Telegraph: "The world’s first green subsidy for renewable heating"

Link above to Daily Telegraph

"Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, expected at least 25,000 households to take up the scheme in the first year, with millions of air source heat pumps and other technologies installed over the next 20 years.

"Environmentalists and consumer groups ... wanted to make it easier for consumers to take up the scheme, to encourage more green technologies, rather than incinerating waste or wood, which can cause emissions and discourage recycling."

LWARB: "£3.7million boost to make it easier for flats’ residents to recycle."

Click for press release

"The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has  announced that 294,000 flats will get improved recycling services, thanks to grants from LWARB totalling £3.7million.

• Brent – LWARB will support Brent’s aim to service all blocks of flats in the borough with recycling facilities. This will include the introduction of new mixed recycling facilities to over 12,000 properties, and providing almost 30,000 households with reusable bags to carry recycling down to on-site facilities.
• Ealing – Will apply new signage to communal recycling bins servicing 21,000 households. The new signs will be more durable than the existing ones meaning wear and tear along with weather damage will be minimal, allowing residents to clearly see what materials can be recycled and to clearly identify where to put the items.
• Harrow – Will expand their recycling service to remaining flats in the borough that do not currently have onsite recycling facilities. This includes the purchase of new bins to install in convenient locations on estates.
• Hounslow - Will use the funding to expand and improve existing services. These improvements include the installation of recycling bins, development of flats recycling sites for easier access and better signage facilities for residents.
• Richmond – Improvements will be made to 16,500 households, including larger capacity bins, reusable bags distributed to residents and an additional vehicle will be purchased to allow the roll out of a new collection method.

[This is a Phase Two list of borough receiving payouts, now making 26 out of the 32 London boroughs. Hillingdon received an grant in Phase One.]

West London Waste Plan: Consultation meetings on 'Proposed Sites and Policies' Document - last chance on 10 March!

It is important [the NLWP says] that local people have their say in the development of the West London Waste Plan. The new planning system [which is now under review; use the forwarding link to National Archives] emphasises the importance of involving people at an early stage in developing planning documents.

Consultation on Proposed Sites and Policies Document

The Proposed Sites and Policies Document is available here. Copies are also available in all borough libraries and main council offices. It puts forward potential new sites for waste recycling and processing in west London. It also includes policies for controlling their impact on the environment and local communities

The consultation on the document will run from 9th February to 25th March 2011. Send your comments to: consultation@wlwp.net

You can have your say on the document by:

• Coming along to one of the drop-in sessions:

Brent: 28th February 2011, 1pm-8pm, Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre, Brentfield, Harrow Road, London NW10 0RG Ealing: 8th March 2011, 1pm-8pm, Priory Community Centre, Acton Lane, Acton, W3 8NY Harrow: 18th February 2011, 2pm-8pm, Committee Room 5, Harrow Civic Centre, Civic 1, Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2XY Hillingdon: 10th March 2011, 1pm-8pm, Botwell Library, East Avenue, Hayes, UB3 2HW (map) Hounslow: 1st March 2011, 1pm-8pm, Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow, TW3 4DN Richmond upon Thames: 3rd March 2011, 1pm-8pm, Atrium of the Civic Centre, 44 York Street, Twickenham

• Completing an online questionnaire:

To complete a short questionnaire covering key issues, click here

To complete a more technical questionnaire, click here

• Sending your views in writing:

If you prefer, questionnaires can be completed by hand and posted to us or handed in at one of the drop-in sessions. To download the short questionnaire, click here. To download the technical questionnaire, click here.

Questionnaires which have been completed by hand and all other correspondence should be sent to:

West London Waste Plan Consultation
CAG Consultants
Gordon House
6 Lissenden Gardens
London NW5 1LX

Issues and Options Consultation 2009

 

The first stage of the process was looking at the issues and options for dealing with waste in West London. A summary report on the consultation held in 2009 is available. Click here to view the report.

Notes from the consultation meetings can be viewed here:

Brent
Ealing
Harrow
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Richmond upon Thames
Ealing Friends of the Earth meeting

"Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding through the Glen, ..."

Place West London: "Barnet says no to Brent Cross Light Rail"

Link to Place West London

"The extensive network for the light railway has been proposed by London's Better Transport Group. It would, they say, mitigate the massive traffic impact of the 'Brent Cross Cricklewood' plans. These could produce an extra 133,000 people and 29,000 extra vehicles travelling into the area each weekday."

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Related news in Brent:

15 March: Boris Question Time

Link to Borisweb

Comments on the Localism Bill

Link above to cartoonist Steve Bell at The Guardian,
or to the Minister of State here, or a critical commentary here.

New Green Jobs in West London?

Air Pollution in West London

Link to The Guardian

"His frustrations with the Labour government over its failure to act has been compounded by the Tory-led coalition. He believes it attempted to 'mislead' the European Commission in September, on the scale of breaches on dangerous particles, known as PM10s."

Independent on Sunday: "Carrier bags 'not eco-villains after all' "

Link to 'Independent on Sunday'

"A draft report by the Environment Agency, obtained by the 'Independent on Sunday', has found that ordinary high-density polythene (HDPE) bags used by shops are actually greener than supposedly low-impact choices."

Biogas future: "Nigel, don't go up on that AD digester roof! Nigel! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" (Tumpty-tum, te-tumpty-tum; tumpty-tum, ...)

Link to 'Anaerobic Digestion News' web site

"The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association predicts that 1,000 anaerobic digestion biogas plants will be built in the next five years, at a cost of £5 billion, mostly funded by the private sector.

"We are currently way behind many of our EU counterparts when it comes to AD - it's embarrassing really. There are two main opportunities, either

• farm-scale, self-sufficient in feedstock [like on BBC's 'The Archers'], or
• commercial-scale, handling external feedstock such as food waste."

 

North London Waste Authority proposal in Haringey: "I wouldn't go in there till the air has cleared, if I were you." (Ricky Tomlinson as Jim in 'The Royle Family')

EXPLOSION!

(click above, then read pages 10 and 11 of 'AD & Biogas News')

"A biogas plant is not 'plug and go': you feed it carefully, you nurse it when it is not well and, most importantly, you must know what to do when something goes wrong."

"Safety issues ... include risk of explosion, confined space asphyxiation, hydrogen sulphide poisoning, gas poisoning, and risk of accidents."
 

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Link to another explosion.

And this week's guest publication is 'AD & Biogas News'. And the first quotation is: "Can you ********** smell ***********************?"

Link to the aforementioned

"Defra's Anaerobic Digestion Framework Document should agree a delivery plan for achieving the Coalition Government's commitment to a 'huge increase' in AD.

"It will also look at what barriers exist, and how these can be broken down." [Presumably anaerobically.]

(Posted here better late than never): "Campaigners Lobby MPs inside House of Commons, as Experts Warn of Incineration Dangers"

Click above for UKWIN site, or "Read more" if shown on left

ENVIRONMENTAL groups opposing new incinerators in London took their fight to the House of Commons on Tuesday of last week. (Where 'last week' was a long time ago.)


Together with invited MPs, they heard leading waste experts spell out the dangers of incinerators, like at Brent Cross, and the arguments for a “zero waste” alternative. (Mike Freer, local MP for Finchley and Golders Green, failed to attend.)

Stopping the South London Incinerator!

Link above to Sarf of the River

"The only technology not on the table is an 'old fashioned mass-burn incinerator' "

Attempt to put the willies up another waste authority

(Thanks to Pinkham Way Incinerator web site)

Taken from lengthy email...

... Yesterday posted a request to the Audit Commission to investigate the whole history of Essex County Council's handling of their waste strategy, et al. I also asked NAO to investigate Defra's role in the matter. Attached is my submission which, you will note, echoes a number of the threads in UKWIN's recent submission to Defra.

See how the North London Waste Authority is consulting...

Link to the Friern Barnet web site

Link to 'Worried of Haringey'

The Independent: "Recycling centre blaze causes roads chaos"

Link to Independent

"Fire broke out among 1,000 tonnes of waste at Huntingdon Recycling Centre in Ellington, Cambridgeshire.

"Residents who are affected by the smoke are advised to stay indoors and keep doors and windows closed."

Consultation, February 2011: See how 'North London Waste Authority' does things:

Link to Friern Barnet residents...

Brent: Freecycle it! (Other boroughs to follow)

Link to information page

"The Brent Freecycle group is open to all who want to 'recycle' that special something rather than throw it away."