Incinerator plans rejected a month after approval

Campaigners have been fighting plans for a waste incinerator in Wisbech

An environmental campaigner expressed disbelief that the Conservative manifesto stated the party would block new waste incinerators, less than a month after plans were approved for 10 to be built.

In May, the government quango the Environment Agency granted a permit to MVV Environment for an incinerator at Wisbech, in Cambridgeshire, close to the Norfolk border.

Virginia Bucknor, a campaigner with Wisbech Without Incineration (WisWINN), told BBC Politics East that she was "stunned" to read the Conservative's policy on incinerators in the party's manifesto, which was launched this week.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “The Conservatives have made a manifesto commitment to block new waste incinerators being built, including those with recent permit approvals where substantial construction has not taken place.”

Virginia Bucknor is part of the campaign against the £300m waste-to-energy incinerator on the Algores Way industrial estate

The manifesto stated: "We will prevent waste incinerators being built including those with recent permit approvals."

Mrs Bucknor said she did not think the site of the £300m waste-to-energy incinerator on the Algores Way industrial estate was appropriate.

"I was really stunned with the Conservative manifesto where it actually said they would not support any current or future incineration because only last month they approved 10, including the Wisbech one," she said.

"So I don't believe a word of this manifesto. We desperately need to know what Labour's policy on incinerators is."

In manifestos, launched this week, none of the other parties referred to waste incineration.

Both Labour and the Greens talked about reducing waste by moving to “a circular economy” which involved increasing recycling.

In the past, the Greens described incineration as a “last resort option” while the Liberal Democrats recently accused the government of inflicting the incinerator on the people of Wisbech “by stealth” and called for a public consultation on whether we need more incinerators.

Virginia Bucknor said the planned site for the incinerator was unsuitable as it was near a food factory, homes and schools

Charlotte Rule, head of climate and energy policy at the Environmental Services Association, a trade body for recycling and waste treatment service providers, said: "What we do know is that for many decades to come energy from waste will play an important role in the UK's infrastructure.

"As long as waste that cannot be recycled continues to be produced, we will need energy from waste in the UK."

When the permits were issued, the Environment Agency said it would only issue a permit if it believed harm to the environment, people and wildlife would be minimised and that the operator had the ability to meet its conditions.

BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday, 16 June at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.

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