Burning ambition to avoid landfill tax; Incineration is only way to meet targets.

Byline: Amy Hunt

TARGETS to help the environment and save money can only be met by burning thousands of tonnes of Newcastle's rubbish, council chiefs say.

Officers from the city council have been given permission to pursue a contract which will see 35,000 tonnes of household rubbish sent from the city to an incinerator on Teesside every year.

They say creating energy from waste (EfW) will help the council save at least pounds 9.5m a year by dodging fines for sending rubbish to landfill sites and will produce enough power to supply 3,500 homes.

And they say they will use incineration only as a short-term measure, for up to six years, while a new plant, to deal with rubbish from the city which cannot be recycled, is commissioned.

Opponents of incineration say they are disappointed and hope an alternative can be found.

In June council chiefs pledged there would never again be incineration within the city boundaries, due to the stigma following the Byker incinerator scandal.

But they admitted they may have to send waste from the city elsewhere to be burned as a "stop-gap" measure to avoid hefty landfill taxes.

The cost of putting rubbish in landfill is rising every year and would have to be passed on to the taxpayer if nothing were done to curb it, they said.

They calculate financial penalties incurred if nothing were done could be up to pounds 25.5m which would have a serious effect on council finances, services and council tax.

Following a meeting of the procurement committee officers will now extend the council's current contract with Sita UK which will involve sending the city's waste to Haverton Hill, Billingham, to be burned, in a move which they say will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the council's waste operations by 7,000 tonnes each year.

Wendy Taylor, the ruling Liberal Democrats' executive member for the environment, said: "We simply can't carry on burying waste. It's very bad for the environment, for climate change, it's also very expensive. It wouldn't be our first choice but when we look at the options left there's very little in the short term we can do.

"I think any members saying they object to this on principle need to have a viable alternative in mind."

Labour's environment spokesman, Coun Henri Murison, said: "I have an issue with incineration and I don't personally believe it's an acceptable way of getting rid of our rubbish. I don't believe this is the way forward.

"I and the Labour group believe executive should have ruled incineration out all together."

Recycling rates are currently running at 47% in the city, since the introduction of household wheelie bins for recycling.

Last year 160,000 tonnes of waste was produced in Newcastle, 70,000 tonnes of which was not recycled.

The council says it is embarking on a number of projects which will reduce the total waste in the city.