CAMPAIGNERS against an incinerator in Newport have hailed an Assembly report which calls for a study into the health impacts of living near an incinerator. CAMPAIGNERS have said that the incinerator ship is sinking following an Assembly report that called on the Welsh Government to consider contributing to a major study on the health impacts of incineration.

The Stop Newport Incinerator Campaign (SNIC) hailed the petitions committee’s findings in the wake of calls for a rethink on plans to burn non-recyclable waste in South Wales.

It is calling for the five councils in the controversial Welsh Government-backed Prosiect Gwyrdd scheme, which is weighing up two bids for a waste incinerator, to scrap its tender process and start again.

The National Assembly’s petitions committee said long-term waste contracts should not get in the way of councils’ efforts to meet ambitious Welsh targets to recycle waste.

AMs added that the Welsh Government should seek opportunities to help technologies for processing waste which could, in time, offer an alternative to incineration.

Prosiect Gwyrdd has said it would welcome a new health study.

Robert Hepworth, chairman of SNIC, said: “We now call on the Welsh Government to level the playing-field for grants so that local authorities can realistically consider alternatives to incineration.

We encourage the five local authorities involved to insist on a full re-tender. This will save taxpayers wasting huge sums on redundant and unhealthy incineration plants which we could be stuck with for 30 years.”

The group says it has advice from a QC that the re-tendering can take place without financial or legal penalty.

Pippa Bartolotti, SNIC spokesman, added: “This is excellent news for our campaign.

“In the light of the consistent increase in householder recycling, the entire incineration project is looking very shaky indeed – indeed, a sinking ship.

“The clear signal from the Petitions Committee is that incineration is not the way forward for Wales.”

The group of four AMs produced the report in response to a petition urging the Welsh Government to review Prosiect Gwyrdd, which it claimed goes against officials’ own policies of having local facilities.

Currently five South Wales councils, including Newport, Caerphilly, and Monmouthshire, are seeking an alternative to landfilling waste through the scheme.

Of the contractors bidding for the contract, one is proposing an incinerator in Cardiff and another is proposing to build one at Llanwern steelworks.

Veolia, which made the latter bid, failed to get planning permission from Newport City Council but is now appealing.

If such an incineration scheme does go ahead the successful firm will have a 25-year-long contract to process non-recyclable waste from the five councils.

But the scheme has sparked fears of health risks, perceived by some, of incinerating waste, and over the effect of breathing in small particles given off by the burning process.

The committee said it was reasonable that more should be done to explore the issue in light of the concerns, and that until definitive research was conducted people would continue to speculate.

But AMs added that many studies have failed to show a link. Both the Environment Agency Wales and the Welsh Local Government Association state that no study has shown that incinerator emissions can affect public health.

The report recommended, however, that the Welsh Government considers helping a comprehensive study, in association with others such as the UK government and the EU, to explore any potential health risks associated with the release of small particles.

Petitioners were also worried that while work is going on to increase recycling rates, a time could come when the rates can’t be increased because of a need to supply a certain amount of waste to the Prosiect Gwyrdd incinerator, as would be set out in the contract.

A Prosiect Gwyrdd spokesman said the group would welcome an independent health study, so it could show that modern incinerators only contribute a small amount to local air pollution.

He said: “Energy from waste was proposed by all companies because the recycling targets in Wales are far higher than England, so there is a reduced need for a secondary mechanical sorting process.

“Energy from Waste will be used for the remaining waste as it is environmentally sustainable, tried and tested and is used extensively in Western Europe alongside high recycling and composting performance.

“The 25-year contract has been designed so that it will not restrict the amount of recycling achieved by the five local authorities.”

The Welsh Government said studies undertaken by the health protection agency conclude that incinerators that are well run and regulated do not pose a significant risk to public health.