Scottish No-Burn Action Day - Local Action Kit

Supported by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Communities Against Toxics (Scotland & UK groups), Invergordon Incinerator No To Waste, the Tayside Environmental Action Group, Global Anti-Incineration Alliance, UK Without Incineration Network.

Scottish No-Burn Action Day

A public gathering at the Scottish Parliament, 1pm, Thursday 1 October 2009. All welcome.

Click here for location map of meeting point

A meeting in the Parliament follows at 2.30pm - please ring 01828 627124, or email, to be put on the guest list, otherwise you will not be allowed in.

Local Campaign Kit

Also available to download in doc or pdf format

Alerting people to the dangers of incineration

Commitment Sheet - A checklist for people to commit to certain actions

Petition to Scottish Government - "NO WASTE INCINERATION IN SCOTLAND"

Will you join us for a two-stage campaign against waste incineration – a local event, followed by a National Gathering at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 1^st October?

Stage 1 – Local Event.

If you haven’t already done so, you will need to raise awareness in your local community about the dangers of incineration (see summary below), with some sort of local event. For example you could organise a public meeting. Advertise it well, especially with posters and flyers through doors, to ensure a good attendance. If you are going round people’s doors, you could also take a petition for people to sign (and tell them face-to-face about the local event and the National Gathering).

You can use the meeting to tell people about the dangers of incineration (see below). We can help you by providing (free) a 20 minute DVD to show at the meeting. This features Dr Paul Connett, a world-renowned expert on the health problems caused by incineration.

Give people a list of ways they can get involved (see Commitment Sheet). You need to enable people to participate in a way they feel comfortable with.

Let people know they are not alone. Communities all over Scotland are facing the threat of waste incinerators on their doorstep. Three have already been built (in Shetland, Dundee and Dumfries), and there are plans for 11 more at Millerhill (near Musselburgh), Irvine, Greengairs (near Airdrie), Perth, Glenfarg, Elgin, Invergordon, Nigg, Peterhead, Coatbridge and Dunbar.

Explain the importance of the National Gathering at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 1^st October at 1pm, which we are calling “Scottish No-Burn Action Day” (download posters and flyers to print and distribute). It is vital that we have a good turnout at the National Gathering, to show the Scottish Government that there is strong feeling against the spread of waste incineration. Otherwise they will think people just don’t care and will support incineration.

If your community already has a vigorous campaign running, and you can easily get in touch with campaigners in your area, tell them right away about the Scottish No-Burn Action Day, and ask them if they will attend.

Also, if there is time, why not organise a local action to raise general awareness? Invite the press, and get your pictures in the paper. It needn’t be anything elaborate. For example if the Council ignored your letters of objection and gave planning consent, then stage a symbolic ‘tearing up’ of copies of your letters. You will probably have lots of ideas of your own for a local action.

Stage 2 – National Gathering at the Scottish Parliament, Thursday 1^st October.

At first we will meet outside the Parliament building in Edinburgh at 1pm (at the ponds beside the visitor entrance - click here for location). Feel free to bring a placard or banner (but most importantly, bring yourself and a friend or two).

Then, at 2.30pm, we have been given permission for up to 100 people to enter the Parliament building, and meet in the largest of the committee rooms. There we hope to meet with MSPs and Scottish Ministers. In order to attend this meeting, you must let us know your name and address so that we can put you on the Guest List – please ring Michael on 01828 627124, or email mpgallagher@btconnect.com.

In the meantime, you can download posters to put up in your area.

Advertise the local event and/or the National Gathering to:

Ø Playgroups

Ø Community Councils – email them links to Paul Connett videos on YouTube

Ø Local businesses

Ø Local media – best to talk to reporters face-to-face

Ø Schools – via parents, school boards and youth organisations

Ø Farmers (incinerators can cause a build up of dioxins in the soil, which can make food toxic – see BBC article)

Ø GPs, Health Councils and Health Boards

Here are some possible arguments that you might use to persuade people to join the Scottish No-Burn Action Day (and local events beforehand).

Putting aside planning issues for the moment, arguments against waste incineration fall into three categories – environmental harm, health risks and financial cost:

Health risks

Even the most modern waste incinerators can produce dangerous emissions. For example over the past three years the Baldovie incinerator in Dundee (only built in 2000) has regularly breached legal limits for a range of deadly emissions, including dioxins, furans, particulates and metals – click here for more info.

Environmental Harm

Ø Global warming – up to 2 tonnes of Co2 per tonne of waste burnt – see p5 of Report for Leicester City Council

Ø Recycling undermined – Dumfries and Galloway Council has abolished recycling so there is enough rubbish to feed the new incinerator in Dumfries

Ø Toxic ash – Around 25% of waste remains as ash. The English Environment Agency has conceded that they cannot be certain that the ash from waste incinerators is non-toxic - click here for more information

Financial cost

Incineration is expensive, involving hundreds of millions of pounds via PFI contracts that will need to be paid back for decades, and will cost local authorities up to £136 per tonne in gate fees – click here for more info

--------------------------------

Another reason for coming to the National Gathering is the way in which incineration companies, local authorities, politicians and government ministers often ignore or mislead us, or break their promises.

Ignored

Has your local authority listened to your concerns? For example, did it award planning permission without properly consulting the community? Did it ignore letters of objection? What about councillors, MSPs, MPs – did they help you?

Misled

Did council officers mislead the planning committee, for example by claiming that without a new incinerator the local authority would face huge fines for breaching Landfill Allowances? (click here for some myth-busting).

Promises broken

Last year environment minister Richard Lochhead announced:

“We cannot support the building of large energy-from-waste plants that have low efficiency levels, which could prove a disincentive to recycling and require major public funding over a very long period. We will not support such large-scale waste incineration in any part of the country.”

(Ministerial statement, 24.1.08)

Despite this clear promise, Scottish Ministers have refused to overturn the decision by North Lanarkshire Council to approve a 300,000 tonne-per-annum incinerator at Greengairs, near Airdrie.