Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of incinerators on (a) general air quality, (b)emissions of PM 2.5 and (c) emissions of PM 1.

As part of the environmental permitting process for new incinerator plants, the regulator is required to make an assessment of the environmental impact of each site, and to set limit values in the environmental permit for emissions to air of a wide range of key pollutants, including PM2.5 and PM10. These atmospheric emissions are subject to a strict monitoring regime. There are no relevant environmental standards for PM1 and so no limit values are set for that parameter.