Waste could be burnt in future (From Bucks Free Press)

Waste could be burnt in future

1:00pm Thursday 28th December 2006

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TONNES of household waste could be incinerated instead of being placed in landfill sites in future as a way of avoiding costly Government fines.

New legislation means that councils will be limited as to how much waste they can use for landfill without incurring severe penalties, and Buckinghamshire County Council has been looking at alternative ways of getting rid of our excess rubbish.

"My committee has had to become very knowledgeable about this highly complex technical subject in order to make sure we help get a solution for our council taxpayers which is value for money, environmentally sound, and delivers our objectives."

Cllr Richard Pushman

Last week, the overview and scrutiny committee for environmental services recommended an incineration process called Energy from Waste should be adopted.

The method, which was deemed the most cost- effective and environmentally friendly, was chosen ahead of an alternative process called Mechanical Biological Treatment with Anaerobic Digestion - which reduces the waste to a solid which can then be used to generate power.

The recommendation will now be put before the council cabinet when they meet in January.

Buckinghamshire homeowners currently produce 275,000 tonnes of rubbish each year. Around 40 per cent of this is currently recycled, with the aim to increase this figure to 45 per cent by 2010.

Cllr Richard Pushman, chairman of the committee, said: "My committee has had to become very knowledgeable about this highly complex technical subject in order to make sure we help get a solution for our council taxpayers which is value for money, environmentally sound, and delivers our objectives.

"They have made a point of visiting technologies to understand how they work, including the rigorous checks that are in place to ensure technologies are safe and environmentally-friendly.

"The hard work they have put in meant that, backed up with sound financial and technical advice from officers and consultants, they were able to reach a unanimous decision."

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