Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been given to the (a) precautionary principle and (b) potential harmful effect on local residents’ health from the release of particulate fumes from incineration, when permission has been granted to build new incinerators.
Answered by Jo Churchill
(a) The Environment Agency is responsible for issuing permits to allow new incinerators to operate in England. The Health Protection Agency’s (now the UK Health Security Agency or UKHSA) response to the 2005 British Society for Ecological Medicine report on the health effects of waste incinerators states “there are no grounds for adopting the ‘precautionary principle’ to restrict the introduction of new incinerators”. The Environment Agency consults UKHSA on every permit application it receives for a new incinerator and is satisfied that this advice remains appropriate.
(b) As part of the permitting process, the Environment Agency carries out a thorough environmental impact assessment of emissions from the proposed plant, including particulate matter, and strict emission limits are included in permits for particulate matter and other pollutants. The Environment Agency will not grant a permit if the proposed plant could give rise to any significant pollution of the environment or harm to human health.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of waste material imported from Europe burned in UK incinerators in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Some waste is imported into the UK from the European Union (EU) for use in energy recovery; or in exceptional circumstances for disposal, such as when the UK can offer an environmentally sound solution for specialist waste not available in the country of dispatch.
The total volume of waste imported into the UK from the EU for recovery or disposal by incineration in the past five years, for which there is currently complete data[1], is presented in the table below. Defra does not hold information on a daily basis.
Year | Imports for recovery as a fuel (R1) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Imports for disposal by incineration on land (D10) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Total Imports for R1 and D10 from EU Member States (Tonnes) |
2019 | 10,046 | 1,999 | 12,044 |
2018 | 20,273 | 6,899 | 27,172 |
2017 | 20,105 | 7,978 | 28,083 |
2016 | 2,309 | 14,898 | 17,207 |
2015 | 3,302 | 10,813 | 14,115 |
Source: Basel Convention National Reporting
[1] Defra does not have complete data on waste imports for 2020 as the Basel Convention National Report is collated at the end of each year for the previous calendar year.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of waste material imported from Europe burned on a daily basis by in incinerators in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Some waste is imported into the UK from the European Union (EU) for use in energy recovery; or in exceptional circumstances for disposal, such as when the UK can offer an environmentally sound solution for specialist waste not available in the country of dispatch.
The total volume of waste imported into the UK from the EU for recovery or disposal by incineration in the past five years, for which there is currently complete data[1], is presented in the table below. Defra does not hold information on a daily basis.
Year | Imports for recovery as a fuel (R1) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Imports for disposal by incineration on land (D10) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Total Imports for R1 and D10 from EU Member States (Tonnes) |
2019 | 10,046 | 1,999 | 12,044 |
2018 | 20,273 | 6,899 | 27,172 |
2017 | 20,105 | 7,978 | 28,083 |
2016 | 2,309 | 14,898 | 17,207 |
2015 | 3,302 | 10,813 | 14,115 |
Source: Basel Convention National Reporting
[1] Defra does not have complete data on waste imports for 2020 as the Basel Convention National Report is collated at the end of each year for the previous calendar year.