To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of waste incineration on (a) public health and (b) respiratory conditions.

The Environment Agency assesses the emissions from new waste incinerators, also known as Energy from Waste (EfW) plants, as part of the permitting process and consults the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on every application received. The UKHSA’s position is that modern, well-run and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health. This view is based on detailed assessments of the effects of air pollutants on health and on the fact that EfW plants make only a very small contribution to local concentrations and overall national emissions of air pollutants.