Friends of the Earth Cardiff Cyfeillion y Ddaear Caerdydd

Our stall at the Fete of the Earth. Photo: Heather Webber, Cardiff Friends of the Earth

On Saturday 7th June, Cardiff Friends of the Earth ran a stall at the annual Fete of the Earth which was held in the Friary. Fete of the Earth is an environmental street festival organised by Cardiff Sustainable Education Network aimed at raising awareness of sustainability and how to combat climate change.

The event saw the unveiling of our big chimney as part of our campaign to raise awareness of the potential for an incinerator to be built in Cardiff as a result of Prosiect Gwyrdd (PG). PG is a collaboration of 5 local authorities (Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Newport, Monmouthsire and Caerphilly) to find a way of dealing with residual waste. Cardiff Friends of the Earth, however, is concerned that this may be leading towards incineration which is not considered to be the best solution.

The chimney proved very popular and attracted a lot of attention with over 70 comments added to the chimney, including "No to incinerator - look at all the alternative options, do not just take the easiest route" and "Some people will have to live near this proposed site - don't they count!". A few artistic folk even expressed their concerns by way of pictures. Many people also took a flyer with a sample letter to send to Councillor Margaret Jones (who is Cardiff Council's representative on the South East Wales Waste Board) expressing their concerns.

Friends of the Earth opposes incineration because:

• it can reduce waste recycling because they require a constant amount of waste (contracts typically last 25 years)
• they create hazardous waste which has to be disposed of in a toxic waste site
• they generate more climate change gases than other solutions.

Alternatives include flexible technologies such as mechanical, biological treatment (MBT) systems. These are modular and so can be more easily adapted to changing amounts of waste. They also produce an inert waste output.