Fears Shrewsbury incinerator will see residents stop recycling

Residents would have to stop recycling to prevent thousands of tonnes of waste being shipped into the county to feed the new £60 million incinerator in Shrewsbury, a councillor today claimed.

Councillor Mansel Williams said residents were faced with an unpalatable choice after waste firm Veolia was granted planning permission to build the burner at the Battlefield Enterprise Park this week.

He said for the burner to operate efficiently, 90,000 tonnes of waste a year was needed. Figures show that people in Shropshire only produce about 70,000 tonnes of excess residual waste a year – with 83,000 tonnes of the total 153,000 created being recycled.

Councillor Williams said the effect on air quality from lorries making thousands of trips a year to bring waste into the county would be so severe it may be preferable to stop recycling so enough waste was created in Shropshire to meet the burner's demands.

"If the incinerator was up and running today, we would be bringing in 20,000 tonnes from outside the county. The maximum load of an HGV is 25 tonnes," he said.

Planning inspector John Woolcock said he did not believe the burner would have a negative effect on county recycling rates.

See also:

• Shrewsbury incinerator will create 200 jobs

• £60m Shrewsbury incinerator gets the go-ahead

• Shrewsbury incinerator appeal costs will take years to pay