Resource use
Sustaining Dunbar seeks to reduce the amount of resources used in businesses, homes and the municipality. We want to increase the re-use of materials including through re-manufacture and repair and to increase recycling. The Resource Group is convened by Mark Huxham
One of the early aims of the group will be to highlight the need for reducing waste and providing a coherent and irresistible argument for rejecting an incinerator.
Anyone interested in joining the subgroup e-mail list please do so. To subscribe, just send a blank message to
rethinkingwaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or get in touch with Mark James.
Campaign Against Viridor Incinerator
Viridor have now lodged their planning application for an ‘energy from waste’ incinerator at Oxwellmains. This completely goes against our philosophy of seeking local solutions and of working for a zero waste community and won’t even make efficient use of the energy in the waste. Find out more on www.keepdunnysunny.com.
On 24 January the BBC reported on the Scottish Government’s plans for a national “zero waste” strategy. This includes tough new targets aimed at increasing recycling and cutting down on waste sent to landfill and limiting waste incineration. Richard Lochead, secretary for the environment said that, “the Government is rejecting the need for large, inefficient, ‘white elephant’ incinerators.”
Sustaining Dunbar member, Philip Revell comments: “Viridor’s proposal should certainly be classed as a ‘white elephant’ as it will depend on an on-going supply of 450000 tonnes of waste annually and, unless they can find a productive use for 88MW of heat (enough to provide domestic hot water for 120 thousand homes) it will make very inefficient use of the energy in this waste (its electricity generating efficiency will only be about 26% - less even than an old coal power station such as Cockenzie).
However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t need to be sending letters of objection to our councillors and the planning department and coming up for our own solutions as to how Dunbar could be a zero waste town.”
Background reading
The Sustainable Development Commission Scotland have written a report on Energy From Waste and its role in Sustainable Development. The report concludes that energy from waste has a role to play, but only a limited one. Recycling and composting are suggested to be more important and Government needs to look more closely at planning, building regs, procurement and energy policy. Download their full report.
The report A Zero Waste UK by Green Alliance was commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy Research to outline what a zero waste UK might look like. It argues for the Government to commit to increasing recycling and reducing overall waste production by giving local authorities the power to charge for household waste and suggests that we should seriously consider developing product levies for the most environmentally damaging products.
Kerbside Recycling
Currently 90% of households in East Lothian have access to the fortnightly recycling box collection. Each household covered by the collection is provided with two recycling boxes- a green one for their glass, cans and plastic bottles and a smaller blue one for their paper. After collection, the material is taken to the Greenstar (RU Recycling) sorting plant in Lancashire. Visit their website to view a short video clip on how the material is sorted out before it is sent for recycling. Once separated the material is used in different ways- the glass and crockery is broken up and used as aggregate- for example in laying new road surfaces, the cans and aerosols are melted down and made into new cans and the plastic bottles are chipped and then used in the manufacture of our recycling boxes and some street furniture.
Litter
People Against Litter is a group of people with a simple aim: each member picks up at least one piece of litter per week and asks another person to do the same. By word of mouth the numbers will increase and lead to an improved environment for us all. Why not sign up and help make Dunbar an even more attactive place to be?
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