Campaigners blockade Edmonton incinerator

An incinerator which burns the waste for seven north London boroughs was blockaded by climate protesters today, (Monday, 13th December), in an ongoing campaign to prevent the construction of a larger environmentally destructive facility on the site. 

Around 25 campaigners from groups including Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, and Stop the Edmonton Incinerator, blocked the access roads to the plant in Advent Way, preventing lorries carrying waste from entering the site, as well as blocking access to construction vehicles which are beginning preparatory work to rebuild the site.

This marks the latest step in a campaign which has been running for years and has featured legal challenges, letter writing, a council tax strike and street protests.

The North London Waste Authority (NLWA), which arranges waste disposal for Haringey, Enfield, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Islington, Camden, and Barnet, is planning to rebuild the incinerator in a project set to cost north London taxpayers an estimated £1.2 billion, with 80% spent on the incinerator.  

The construction of the new incinerator is set to begin by mid-2022. It would be 30% bigger and is expected to operate until around 2075.

Sarah Eastwood, a spokesperson for the campaigners said: “We are here to tell our councils and the NLWA that we will not accept this incinerator. It is bad for the planet and bad for our communities – local people deserve better.

“We won’t stop campaigning until our elected representatives pause to get an independent review of the plans, and conduct a genuine, inclusive and democratic local consultation.”

The NLWA board, comprising two councillors from each of the seven councils, is due to approve the plans at a meeting on Thursday, 16th December.

Spanish-based multinational ACCIONA is set to carry out the rebuild after all other potential contractors dropped out.

The rebuilt plant would release 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year − more than the sum total of an entire London borough − as well as toxic particulates. No financing has been secured to equip the incinerator with carbon capture and storage technology.

A growing body of scientific evidence links long-term exposure to air pollution with a greater risk of serious medical conditions and premature death, including from infectious diseases.

Located just two miles from the North Middlesex University Hospital, many people are expected to be affected by the fumes across Tottenham, Walthamstow and Chingford. 

If built, the plant could cause north London’s low recycling rates to plummet further, as councils would be contractually incentivised to redirect recyclables to the incinerator to meet minimum tonnage requirements.