Recent figures release by the government, show a dramatic increase in recycling that makes the need for big waste disposal plants in Essex redundant. This undermines the county’s plans for big waste disposal plants in Essex. Almost every council in the country has met or exceeded its recycling target including those in Essex.

Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrats spokesman for waste and recycling, Cllr Ian Gale said: “We have been repeatedly told by the Conservative administration at Essex County Council, that massive waste disposal plants that burn waste are essential as we will continue to produce more and more waste. The government’s figures, and indeed the county’s own figures, show that this is nonsense.

“Local residents have made a fantastic effort to recycle more of their household rubbish leaving far less for councils to have to dispose of than before. This is likely to continue as there is plenty more scope to improve recycling rates and we will produce less and less waste.

“The Conservative’s plan to spend an estimated £5billion pounds over a contract of 25-30 years to treat and burn waste in Essex is a waste of money. With just a fraction of that spend on more recycling, the county council can dramatically reduce the amount of waste it has to deal with, making the need for large waste plants unnecessary.”

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/bulletin08.htm