South East waste plan slammed

ENGLAND

Plans to transport high levels of waste from London to parts of the South East for disposal have been slammed by Green MEP Dr. Caroline Lucas. The draft South East Plan, which covers regional planning for the next twenty years, outlines proposals to landfill 1.25m tonnes of waste every year across various local authorities.

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire would receive the largest amounts, at 4.4m tonnes each, while Kent and Milton Keynes would also be required to take on around 3m tonnes for the duration of the arrangement. Councils in the Bershire area, along with Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex would also be involved.

“This is absolute madness – the South-East hasn’t got the facilities to deal with its own waste – let alone London’s,” said Dr. Lucas. “We must adopt a zero-waste strategy – as has been done successfully in parts of Australia and Canada – by improving re-use, composting and recycling and cutting packaging.”

“Landfill sites are increasingly scarce, expensive and toxic. Incinerators discourage recycling (as they constantly need to be fed), consume millions of gallons of increasingly scarce water and produce highly toxic discharges. The only way we can avoid drowning in a sea of waste is if Government takes steps to stop us producing so much of it,” she added.