'The Waste Paper': Response by UKWIN to the story 'EfW facility set to create new green collar jobs'

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"The United Kingdom Without Incineration Network (UKWIN) is an independent organisation representing a network of more than 80 local groups opposing the expansion of waste incineration in the UK. The aim of the Network is to provide information and act as a coordinating focus for local community groups and members of the public who are campaigning against the building of incinerators or facilities to produce Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) or Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) in the UK. Our website is at: http://ukwin.org.uk

"The 'Waste Paper' link to the article about Orchid Environmental caught our attention, not as a viable alternative to incineration, but as an example of greenwash. Whatever the claims of 'green collar job creation', closer examination of the plan reveals an intention to burn plastic. Burning plastic is a bad idea for many reasons: because it detracts from efforts to recycle plastics and phase out unrecyclable plastics, and because burning plastic exacerbates climate change.

"Plastics burned for electricity generation are a high carbon fuel, over 1000 gCO2/kWh compared with the UK average of ~500g/kWh, and projections of 150 g/kWh by 2020. By their own account. Orchid Environmental propose to 'add more plastic to meet the specific needs of combustion processes such as co-firing in power station boilers, fluidised bed boilers, gasification, pyrolysis, and cement kilns' [source: http://www.orchid-environmental.co.uk/process/index.php].

"Far from deserving our thanks for creating a handful of so-called 'green collar' jobs, Orchid Environmental deserves to be exposed for promotion of environmentally-poor technology. According to their website, 'Orchid's goal is to deliver alternative forms of renewable energy to help reduce the unsustainable consumption of natural resources'. What a shame then that they propose to produce an unsustainable fuel, that would promote incineration, rather than recycling, and would worsen climate change!"

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