New clause 32 - Moratorium on new municipal incinerators
Waste and Emissions Trading Bill [Lords]
8:55 am
Mr David Drew (Stroud, Labour/Co-operative)
I would like to go further in that direction. Until a strategy is put in place, however, it will be difficult to implement a tax regime. We have learned from the gruesome experience of the climate change levy that it is necessary not only to implement the tax but to win the arguments. Although I support the CCL, we must change people's consciousness, which has been difficult.
The obsession with incineration, which could be seen as the easy, simple solution in this country, has come about through decisions taken outside our control. I do not want us to go down that route. In Denmark, the great evil is landfill, and people's mindset is such that they do not want it near them and are happier to have an incinerator. The mindset in
this country is very different. With the best will in the world, we can take a national position, but our devolved planning system makes it impossible to get planning permission for incinerators. It may be possible further to increase capacity where there is existing landfill, but, as I argued on Second Reading, landfill is an urban solution. It may have limited merit in urbanised communities, where, unless waste is exported, it is hard to remove the most difficult waste from the waste stream.
In conclusion, I believe that waste has must be dealt with at the level at which it occurs, which means households and, more particularly, local authorities. As long as the resources are made available, I would return the responsibility to local government, which has the planning means to exercise its right to oppose incineration. We do not therefore need a moratorium. Local government should also take responsibility for leading people to find better ways to dispose of rubbish or encouraging them not to create it in the first place. I feel very strongly about that.
Moratoriums do serve their purpose, and there is always a suspicion that they will make things better; but I do not think that a moratorium will make things better. It will simply delay our reaching the point at which we decide that we must use methods other than landfill and incineration to reduce and to remove waste.
I am not very happy with the various new clauses that have been tabled, although I understand why they have been. The Minister kindly came to my constituency, where people who are against incineration lobbied him. We should be honest and open with them and say that incineration is not the preferred method. Local authorities should be encouraged not to go along that route, which should be a clearly stated national strategy that is picked up locally.