EU rules ‘may derail incinerator project’ (From York Press)

EU rules ‘may derail Allerton Park incinerator project’

8:15am Thursday 11th October 2012 in News By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk

CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans for a £1.4 billion waste incinerator between York and Harrogate have claimed European rules aimed at outlawing waste burning may derail the controversial scheme.

North Yorkshire County Council is expected to make a decision this month on whether the proposed Allerton Waste Recovery Park, next to the A1(M), can go ahead as a joint venture between the authority and City of York Council, designed to dramatically cut their waste and landfill tax bills.

The plant would be operated by AmeyCespa through a 25-year deal, but opponents say the cost is too high and the incinerator is outdated and will damage the environment.

The York Residents Against Incineration (YRAIN) action group has now written to Ian Fielding, the county council’s assistant director of waste and countryside services, to demand a rethink amid moves by the European Union to prevent incineration or landfill of recyclable and compostable materials by 2020, although Amey Cespa has said its plans are in line with the EU’s aims.

YRAIN spokesman Richard Lane described the scheme as “an enormous financial gamble which hasn’t paid off”, saying: “The more time that passes, the more clear it becomes that this incinerator is the wrong idea, yet the plans continue unchecked.

“The writing is on the wall for incineration and the councils need to wake up and stop this now before even more money is wasted.”

The Press revealed this week that York council’s share of consultancy costs for the project over the last two years has topped £640,000, while the county council spent about £530,000 on professional advisors in 2011/12.

AmeyCespa’s project manager Bill Jarvis said: “YRAIN has failed to recognise the fact that our plans for Allerton Waste Recovery Park fully support the planned EU directives. Our proposal includes mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion facilities which will capture compostable or recyclable materials, and the Energy From Waste facility will divert at least 90 per cent of all remaining waste from landfill.”