The government has awarded Essex county council £100 million to help build a new waste disposal plant in Basildon. The plant will help to reduce the rate at which landfill sites are reaching capacity.
The new waste plant will cost the equivalent of £8500 per taxpayer over a 30 year period. It will create about 80 new jobs which is excellent news for the local community in and around Basildon.
This funding marks another significant step in a waste revolution underway in Essex. The costs of disposing our waste are rising to horrendous levels, but we have taken the initiative in Essex and now our efforts have national backing we know we can make a difference.” Cllr Tracey Chapman, Essex County Council Waste Chief.
The Green Party also back the new waste disposal plans, which is a real sign that Essex is leading the way in waste management. The Green Party’s leader James Abbott made the following statement:
“The people of Essex have been doing brilliantly with recycling and the amount going to landfill has reduced dramatically. Although this government money is going into one bug plant, we believe the tide is now in favour of small localised plants we have argued all along. One is planned for Boreham and approaches for one in Halstead genuinely near an industrial estate where it can supply true combined heat and power is on the cards. The battle against incineration is not won, but it is further off we believe.”
Landfill tax is currently £40 per tonne and it is rising by £8 per year until 2013. This initiative will in the long term reduce the cost to Essex of waste disposal, as well as increase jobs in the area.
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