Photo by Antoine Taveneaux This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.
We have covered the resistance to the incinerator plans before, but, sadly, it seems people have to protest yet again.
Local residents are angry that the BCP Planning Committee have made a summary recommendation to grant permission for MVV to build their proposed waste incinerator in Canford. The BCP Planning Committee are meeting at 1pm on June 12 at Bournemouth’s Civic Centre to make a formal decision.
Local residents and groups are holding a family-friendly protest starting at 12:00 to show their opposition to this proposal, and added that all are welcome. Their concerns are many and are based around their commitment to protecting local public health, the environment, and the climate.
What is being considered
MVV Environment Ltd (MVV) has applied for a permit to operate an incinerator on the Canford Resource Park. The Environment Agency will consider issues like pollution control, human and environmental health, potential impact of noise and odour in their decision to grant the permit or not. MVV has also applied to BCP Council for planning permission.
They are applying to burn up to 260,000 tonnes of waste every year in an incinerator known as an energy from waste combined heat and power facility. This would operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year, for a minimum of 40 years.
This will be counter to the BCP Council future waste policy
Natalie Clarke, a local resident, mother of two, and a company director stated the council is in the process of developing a new waste strategy that will set out key achievable ambitions for the next 10 years. Priorities of the strategy include: encouraging greater waste prevention – reuse and repair, finding more opportunities to recycle, aligning local policy with national standards to deliver services fit for the future, and working towards sustainable waste targets to reduce carbon emissions. Natalie pointed out that
‘allowing an incinerator to be built with a life span of 40 years plus, and having a target to reduce carbon emissions within the next ten years are diametrically opposed, and that on this ground alone the incinerator application should be rejected.”
Natalie added that
“BCP Council declared a climate and ecological emergency on 16 July 2019. They committed the organisation to being carbon neutral by 2030 and the BCP conurbation by 2045. Allowing this application would mean the incinerator would be belching out CO2 and other poisons for a least 20 years into the carbon neutral period.”
Canford is a very special area
Dorset’s lowland heath is the largest surviving lowland heath in Europe and is under constant pressure, is fragmented, and needs protecting. Canford Heath is Dorset’s single largest lowland heath, and much of it is a site of special scientific snterest (SSSI). It is also part of the Dorset Heathlands special protection area.
In the BCP Corporate Strategy it is promised the council will “protect SSSIs through the work of nature conservation teams and partners, creating favourable conditions for priority species” and will “continue to deliver higher-level stewardship and management of designated natural sites to preserve them for future generations”
Adam Osman, a Forest School Teacher from Poole, says that
“Canford Heath, an internationally important SSSI, is home to many rare species, including the smooth snake, sand lizard and dartford warbler, and this ecologically sensitive area would be subject to increased pollution through acid and nitrogen deposition. The artificial enrichment of the soil would lead to it becoming unsuitable for the plants of lowland heaths. As such the wildlife that relies on the heathland plants would diminish as the plants do.This is hardly protecting one of Dorset’s most important SSSI’s”
People are concerned
Steve Harper, a freelance designer from Bournemouth said “since we stopped using coal to produce electricity, waste incineration is the dirtiest form of energy production. Its toxic emissions will damage the quality of the air we breathe in the BCP and wider Dorset area. The greenhouse gases produced will drive climate change. Incineration ruins all our efforts to increase recycling and defeats the drive to a circular economy. Traffic will increase on Magna Road to transport rubbish to burn.”
Dr Ian Williams, professor of applied environmental science at the University of Southampton said it is an “insane situation”. “The current practice of the burning of waste for energy and building more and more incinerators for this purpose is at odds with our desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,”. “Increasing its use is disastrous for our climate.”
People living in the area will be severely adversely affected
When asked, Joanna Bury, a writer from Wimborne said
“the area covered by the toxic plume would cover a 6.2mile radius – dependent on weather – from the proposed incinerator. Toxic emissions and pollutants would harm air quality for residents, businesses, and schools. These pollutants include dioxins, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and ultra fine particulate matter that is harmful to human health and the natural environment. Children are particularly at risk as their immune systems, lungs and brains are not fully developed. The World Health Organisation does not recognise any safe level for dioxin exposure or particulate matter.”
She went on to say
“the incinerator would be built on the green belt. Due to the height of the facility’s chimney tower, 110 metres, it would be physically imposing and a blot on the landscape, and will ruin associated views. This chimney stack would be considerably higher than Big Ben, which is a mere 96 meters. The other substantial structures involved would account for about half the height of the chimney which will loom over and dominate the area.
People who live near incinerators often complain of noise, litter, increased vehicle traffic, smells, and air pollution. As temperatures rise in the summer, the smell often gets worse, forcing people to close their windows and avoid sitting outside.
Studies have found that eggs, pine needles, and mosses in the vicinity of an incinerator show significantly high concentrations of dioxins, and PFAS, commonly known as ‘forever chemicals.’ Notably, dioxin levels in eggs at one site in Slovakia surpassed EU limits by 300 per cent.”
The height of the chimney would not take all the pollutants away
Rick Larcombe, a retired design and project engineer (which included work at Combustion Engineering) from the Bearwood area, said that
“the higher the chimney the greater the dispersal of the pollutants. The level of pollution is the same but it would spread over a larger area if the chimney stack were higher. High chimneys cannot stop pollution but can make the pollution more diluted. The Canford plume will spread just over 6 miles, depending on the direction of the wind and weather conditions. The toxic plume would cover the whole of BCP and considerable parts of the wider Dorset.”
Incineration the dirtiest form of energy production
Mr Larcombe said that
“according to the government’s own statistics, burning plastic produces 175 times more carbon dioxide (CO2) than burying it in landfill. For every tonne of plastic incinerated, more than two tonnes of carbon dioxide are released. This is because the carbon in plastic combines with oxygen in the air, making incineration a significant source of greenhouse gases.
Incineration is the most polluting form of power generation in the UK, producing the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power, which was abandoned by the UK.
Energy produced from waste is five times more polluting than the average UK unit of electricity.
Incineration will become more carbon-intensive than landfilling in the UK by 2035 as well as a major source of toxic air pollution.”
Dorset is set to become “Incinerator Central”
Mary Shire, an office manager from Bear Cross said that if permission is granted
“Dorset will become incinerator central, as it is proposed in the planning document that only 50 per cent by weight of the total waste feedstock that is incinerated at the development would be sourced from within the area to which the adopted Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Dorset Waste Plan (2019) relates. Eco Sustainable Solutions West Parley incinerator was recently granted planning permission to burn 60,000 tons of rubbish a year. Subsequent to being granted planning permission, it sought, and was given permission, to increase the amount of rubbish it can burn to 105,000 tonnes a year.
Powerfuel Portland, after some legal challenges have been granted permission to build an incinerator on Portland, on the Jurassic Coast. This will burn 202,000 tonnes of waste a year.
If the Canford incinerator, at 260,000 tonnes a year, goes ahead, total Dorset rubbish burning capacity would be 567,000 tonnes a year.
Canford, Parley and Portland are all internationally protected wildlife sites.”
The implications to incineration over capacity
Neil Clarke, local resident, father of two, and a property manager said
“the UK Government has a target to halve non-recyclable waste by 2042 (the Environment Act 2021). To comply with this target there is a strong prospect that, in order to fulfil contracts with the incinerator operators, BCP and Dorset councils will have to import waste into the area. Councils can get ‘locked in’ to burning waste. Dozens of councils have contracts which demand a minimum amount of waste be supplied to incinerators for burning – known in the industry as “deliver or pay”.
Local authorities often can’t move away from energy-from-waste plants due to these long-term contracts. These arrangements have been criticised by the House of Commons public accounts committee for locking councils into financially burdensome arrangements.”
He added that
“in Derbyshire the council had to pay £93.5m compensation to the incinerator company when it ended the contract as a result of the incinerator not passing tests and locals complaining. In 2010, Stoke-on-Trent Council faced a claim of £329,000 for not sending enough waste to be incinerated. These penalties have to be financed from increased council tax, reduced public services, or a combination of the two.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is concerned that councils are unable to explore the use of more environmental solutions, such as recycling, for fear of a fine for breach of contract.”
What other UK countries have done
Wales and Scotland have introduced bans on new incinerator plants over environmental concerns. There have been increasing calls from leading academics and environmental groups for the same to happen in England and Northern Ireland.
The Government’s position
“The government states that by 2030, they aim to supply Britain’s electricity demand with energy from clean sources,” says Helen Nicol a Healthcare Professional from Poole. She goes on to say “as such incineration is clearly not the answer. DEFRA is committed to cutting waste and moving to a circular economy so that we re-use, reduce and recycle more resources and help meet our emissions targets. The Environment Secretary Steve Reed has said that transitioning to a zero-waste economy would add a £70 billion boost to the economy.
In its manifesto, Labour said it is committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy. Prof Keith Bell, who sits on the UK Climate Change Committee, said after reviewing the BBC’s findings: “If the current government is serious about clean power by 2030 then… we cannot allow ourselves to be locked into just burning waste.”
However, the government’s own calculations underestimate the scale of the issue because they do not factor in that more and more plastic waste is going to incineration. In April 2024, a temporary ban on permits for new incinerators was introduced in England by the previous government while it reviewed the role of burning waste. When the ban lapsed in May it was not continued by our new Government.
This is contrary to the Government’s aim to supply Britain’s electricity demand with energy from clean sources by 2030.”
What BCP Council should do?
Say no to Canford Incinerator!
Improve the recycling rate! Dorset’s recycling rate in 22/23 was 59.1 and BCP’s in 23/24 was 46.3.
Educate the public about the benefits of a circular economy.
Promote the idea of reducing waste and increasing reuse, repair, recycling.
Enhance their commitment to green procurement and give preference to buying items that can be (or that have been) recycled.
Use renewable and sustainable materials in its operations and encourage business to do likewise.
For more information please contact:
Greg Lambe
07821 465 202 greg.lambe1@gmail.com
References
Specific information on incinerators https://ukwin.org.uk/
BCP Corporate Strategy https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/environment/BCP-Corporate-Strategy.pdf
No time to waste! Have your say on future strategy in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Public reports pack 12th-Jun-2025 13.00 Western BCP Planning Committee.pdf
Most of the detail comes from this BBC article: Burning Coal Now UK’s Dirtiest Form of Power. See article for many of the quotes in this article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3wxgje5pwo
Client Earth. Much of the information comes from their website.
Defra’s commitment to circular economy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-prevention-programme-for-england-maximising-resources-minimising-waste/the-waste-prevention-programme-for-england-maximising-resources-minimising-waste
Steve Reed and his £70 billion
Labour Party Manifesto https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Change-Labour-Party-Manifesto-2024-large-print.pdf
Canford Incinerator Plume Plotter https://plumeplotter.com/canford/
Details of the permit sought by MVV https://www.gov.uk/government/news/canford-magna-incinerator-permit-sought-by-mvv-environment-ltd
Bournemouth Echo has lots of articles about it. Search online. For example https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24580949.canford-magna-incinerator-deferred-legal-concerns/
Greenpeace on the dangers of incineration https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/incineration-burning-plastic-crisis/
Contaminated eggs https://zerowasteeurope.eu/press-release/biomonitoring-data-shows-food-across-europe-is-alarmingly-polluted-near-waste-coincinerators/
Recycling rates https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/26/recycling-rate-falls-in-uk-as-just-44-of-household-waste-is-recycled
BCP use of anaerobic digester for food https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24888198.new-rules-recycling-start-bcp-end-march/
The World Health Organisation https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dioxins-and-their-effects-on-human-health
Heath Briefing from UK Without Incineration Network https://ukwin.org.uk/health/
As for the destinations for the RDF produced at the Canford MBT plant, according to the data at https://environment.data.gov.uk/file-management-open/data-sets/4f93894b-bac5-4ce1-9475-10f09c185a2a/files/2023%20Waste%20Data%20Interrogator%20-%20Wastes%20Removed%20(Excel)%20-%20Version%201.zip
