UK Government decision allows for future high rates of recycling in Hertfordshire In mid-July, Greg Clark, the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government re-confirmed his predecesor Eric Pickles’ decision to refuse planning permission to waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services for a Mass Burn Incinerator to be sited in New Barnfield in Hatfield.
What has this to do with TTL? Well, the proposed central facility would have disposed of residual, municipal waste from every part of the county, including mixed materials with recyclable components such as the foodstuffs and plastics that householders choose not to put in their recycling bins.
It would in effect have limited the level of diversion of discarded materials from waste (currently around 50%) to 70% or so. The Government’s decision removes that “cap” and allows for diversion rates of 60% to 90% and beyond.
Herts. County Council is starting to consider other options, including a revised project plan from Veolia. Herts. Without Waste (HertsWOW) is a Transition-minded community group that acts as an information ‘hub’ among the community groups especially Friends of the Earth, the powers-that-be and the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN). If you would like to know more, to take part in HertsWOW, UKWIN and perhaps to set up a new network to promote a Circular Economy for Hertfordshire, please contact us and we’ll put you in touch with John Webb, one of their co-ordinators.
More information can be found here.