PFI Snub for Incinerator Plans Presents Opportunity to 'Think Again'

The project to build a giant incinerator near Stewartby to burn Bedfordshire's waste has suffered a major setback after the Government refused to include the scheme in its latest award of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding for waste treatment projects. This is the second occasion on which the Government has rebuffed a PFI bid for waste treatment in Bedfordshire after it withdrew a £30 million funding offer in 2006, and leaves the troubled bid for a giant incinerator in an uncertain position.

Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have campaigned against the bid to build a giant incinerator since the Conservative-run County Council's decision to pursue this option in preference to environmentally superior technologies.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Michael Headley, who fought against the incinerator plans as a Member of Bedford Borough Council's Implementation Executive, commented: "The Government's refusal of PFI funding for the project at this stage is a golden opportunity to think again about how we should be dealing with our waste. The plan to build a giant incinerator is deeply flawed on a number of grounds, including the simple fact that it is the wrong option for the environment. In addition, the incinerator would require a massive, constant stream of waste, working against the priorities of waste reduction and recycling.'

"The fact that the Government is currently unwilling to commit funding to this troubled project must be viewed as a chance to pursue a more suitable technology which provides the right solution for this area. A Mechanical and Biological Treatment plant with a smaller capacity, operating alongside increased waste reduction and recycling efforts, presents the right option for the local and wider environment and for local residents who do not want a giant rubbish-burning incinerator on their doorstep. With financial penalties for continued use of landfill rising sharply it is also essential for local taxpayers that a suitable solution is found as quickly as possible."