Council leaders under attack over £2bn incinerator contract

COUNCIL leaders in Newcastle have been accused of “preventing future generations from reducing waste and recycling more”, after refusing to back out of a £2bn waste incinerator deal.

- By Daniel Holland

Newcastle City Council's Labour cabinet this week confirmed that it will not withdraw from the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF) contract it is entering into alongside six other North East authorities.

That is despite a full council vote earlier this month in which a majority of councillors urged that Newcastle pull out of the controversial scheme.

Environmental campaigners have railed against the project, where 450,000 tonnes of rubbish would be burned annually. They fear the incinerator near Redcar, would lead to more pollution, as well as harm efforts to recycle more and cut waste.

The contract for the development, which councils say is required to deal with residual waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill, could run for up to 40 years and has been valued at more than £2bn.