GALWAY for a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
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Wednesday, May 17th , 2000
Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE) Residents for a Responsible Waste Management Policy Monday, May 15th , 2000 Connacht Waste Management Plan "Fundamentally Flawed" Major Miscalculation In Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Incinerator Real Costs of Incineration Not Given in Plan Speaking at a debate on the Connacht Draft Waste Management in Galway last night, which was attended by over 400 people from all over Connacht, a spokesman for Galway for a Safe Environment (GSE), said that the Plan was fundamentally flawed in its decision to opt for an incineration option, instead of a recycling-only option. Dr. Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, speaking on behalf of GSE identified the main flaws in the plan as follows: 1. The economic arguments underestimate the cost of incineration and overestimate the cost of recycling. The economic costs gven in the plan grossly underestimated the cost of an incinerator, burning 184,000 tonnes per annum, at £46 million. "The SOTEC incineration plant visited by the councillors in Pirmasens, Germany last year, burning 170,000 tonnes per year, was built at a capital cost of £141 million. The Vestobraending incinerator in Copenhagen recently added a new incineration line at a cost of approx. £100 million, to burn 210,000 tonnes. It is quite clear that £46 million will not build a "state-of-the-art incinerator, meeting all proposed EU emissions standards". Furthermore, the cost of the recycling option is artificially increased, by assuming the value of waste paper and cardboard at a figure of (negative) -£20. Our investigations in Galway find that this material currently has a value of (positive) +£30. This represents an overstatement of £50 of the costs of recycling paper and cardboard. The plan found that the incineration option was only £25 million cheaper than the incineration option, our analysis shows that incineration is actually over £108 million more expensive than recycling. 2. The environmental analysis involves a gross miscalculation of the amount of Carbon Dioxide, a major contributor to greenhouse gases. The group has identified a miscalculation in the report which gives a total emission from the proposed incinerator of 47,467 tonnes of the greenhouse gas, Carbon Dioxide. The true figure, (using the emissions factor actually given in Appendix D of the Connacht Waste Management Strategy Report) is actually over 215,000 tonnes per annum. This miscalculation completely changes the conclusion in the report that the incinerator option is the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO). 3. The Environmental Analysis completely ignores the contribution of heavy metals (Mercury, Lead, Cadmium), hydrochloric acid, particulates and furanes. Though the Strategy Report gives figure for emissions per annum of heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, mercury, as well as hydrochloric acid, particulates and dioxins/furanes, these emissions are completely ignored in opting for the proposed incinerator in Galway. These materials are among the most toxic substances in our environment, yet they were ignored in the environmental analysis which found the incinerator to be the BPEO 4. The recycling model presented in the plan is totally unrealistic The recycling option is totally unrealistic in that it assumes an increase to 48% overall recycling in the first 5 years (just 2% short of the Government targets), and then no further increase for the following 10 years. Many communities and countries throughout the world have reached recycling levels of well over 50%, and we see no reason why Connacht can't achieve this level as well, thus meeting the Government targets. 5. The plan only allows for landfilling of over 7,356 tonnes of bottom ash, even though over 46, 000 tonnes of this ash will be generated. There is no provision in the plan for over 36,000 tonnes of bottom ash to be landfilled in East Galway. In essence, this material is missing from the plan, even though it is potentially quite toxic and has to be handled with great care. 6. No details are given as to where the 9,200 tonnes of highly-toxic fly ash is to be landfilled, The plan admits that up to 9,000 tonnes of toxic fly ash will be generated by the proposed incinerator. No details are given as to where this fly ash will be landfilled. The consultants say that a toxic waste dump in Dublin or Cork is being proposed, but no community has agreed to host this dump, and the enormously high costs of landfilling this material (between £100 and £200 per tonne) don't seem to have been included in the plan. Summarising, Dr. Ó Brádaigh said that the Connacht Draft Waste Management Plan was really a thinly-disguised incineration plan. "Every effort has been made to conceal the true economic and environmental costs of the proposed incinerator, whereas the costs of the recycling/non-burn option has been artificially increased so as to make it less attractive" "This Plan is so full of flaws that it cannot be regarded as a credible attempt to meet the Waste Management needs of Connacht. We are calling on the local authorities in Connacht to reject this plan, and to fully investigate the possibilities of the recycling/non-burn alternative, as is being practiced and developed worldwide", said Dr. Ó Brádaigh. Confirmation: Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, 087-2830452 Áine Suttle, 091-581047 <!-- HTML Markup endspan --> </td> </tr> </table> <a name=bottom></a> </body> </html>