Massive Incinerator to be built in Doncaster
November 27, 2008 at 2:50 pm
A giant waste incinerator is to be built in Doncaster. The scheme, which has seen three local councils join forces, aims to increase the provisions available for recycling centres whilst reducing pressure on local landfill sites.
The three councils, namely Doncaster, Barnsley, and Sheffield, have drawn up a shortlist of thirteen different sites that could potentially become the new home for the high-tech facility.
Sites at Kirk Sandall and Carcroft, an existing landfill site in Hatfield, and three quarries are among the locations that will meet the public vote in the middle of December. Robin Hood Airport, the abandoned power station at Thorpe Marsh, and Doncaster Lakeside Leisure Park have been recently removed from the list.
The Dearne Valley region is responsible for disposing of some 611,000 tonnes of waste every year, a third of which must be recycled or composted to achieve targets set by the European Union last month.
Incineration has long been regarded as a confounding variable in the fight against pollution – effectively replacing physical debris with toxic smoke and gases – but a series of unique technologies will allow the new facility to ‘clean’ unpleasant gases before they are ejected. Chemical and biological waste will also be processed at the site.
The incinerator is steadily increasing in popularity amongst UK councils. A £39.3m structure has also been approved in Barnstable, Devon, provided that it can generate usable energy from the waste it destroys.
Unfortunately, incinerators are ugly and smelly, and unless incineration becomes completely ‘clean’, developers are going to face prolonged resistance from NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) groups concerned about the heavy metals and dioxins produced as a by-product of the incineration process.
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