Pollution and health impacts of waste incinerators

The recent European Landfill Directive will force the UK to reduce the amount of organic waste it disposes of in landfill sites. This is causing panic among waste disposal authorities, which have failed for years to address the question of what to do sustainably with our household waste. Local authorities in the UK are now stampeding towards huge incineration plants, capable of burning 200,000 tonnes or more of rubbish per annum, to meet the EU targets.

There are currently 12 operating municipal waste incinerators in the UK, of which Edmonton in North London is the biggest (with proposals to increase capacity by 50%) and Sheffield the worst offender for breaching pollution levels. The others are Dudley, Wolverhampton, Cleveland, Coventry, Tyseley, Nottingham, Stoke and Lewisham (South London)...