'We should welcome new energy facility'

The planned new waste-to-energy facility at Red Scar in Preston should be welcomed says a correspondent

Even with the best will in the world, it’s not currently possible in the UK to recycle everything we put in our bins at home and work, so a lot of ‘hard to recycle’ rubbish gets exported to countries with cheap labour like Malaysia.

After local workers there have picked through it by hand and extracted any materials of value, the leftovers get sent to poorly run landfill sites.

Waste is allowed to escape into streams and rivers and eventually into the sea to contribute to the problem of ocean plastic pollution.

It would be better all round if this waste, which isn’t easily recycled, were to be used to make energy in this country instead, helping to cut our use of fossil fuels, reduce export shipping emissions and avoid ocean pollution.

Well-run and regulated, modern waste-to-energy plants are nothing to be afraid of.

K Aguilera

Chartered Waste

Manager & Environmental Consultant