If it looks like an incinerator...
Thursday's announcement through this newspaper that environmental lobby group G-Can and others have launched a formal campaign against the proposed £80m. Longue Hougue incinerator has put the Public Services Department onto a war footing.
Thursday's announcement through this newspaper that environmental lobby group G-Can and others have launched a formal campaign against the proposed £80m. Longue Hougue incinerator has put the Public Services Department onto a war footing.
It knows that early publication, as requested by the States, of its proposals provides its opponents until the end of next month in which to persuade a majority of States members that mass burn is bad for Guernsey.
It also knows that it has an uphill struggle. Not only did a prominent States member predict to the Guernsey Press yesterday that the incinerator would be voted out, if asked, a majority of islanders are probably also opposed.
The cost, the size, the siting, the 25-year lifespan – all this makes people desire a better solution.
One of the problems for PSD is that this is such a complex area. Its proposals are not for a burner but 'a bespoke, modular solution specifically designed for Guernsey and one that will comprise a material recovery facility (MRF); an energy-from-waste (EfW) plant and an integrated bottom ash (IBA) treatment facility' based on the best of technologies in widespread use today.
While true, and while the department can point to many other similar plants that burn 'left over' waste to make electricity, it does not necessarily convince a sceptical audience. A big, ugly building that burns thousands of tonnes of rubbish is, well, an incinerator.
The department's handling of the People's Panel, the perception that it weighted the tender process in favour of its recommended treatment facility also all count against it.
PSD's other problem is that it has to get this right. The States is naturally risk-averse and tried and tested technologies are what departments propose – let others testbed alternative treatments.
However, the appeal of bolt-on, almost disposable, micro-incinerators is a concept that will grow on islanders opposed to the Longue Hougue behemoth.
Until Public Services demonstrates convincingly that such technology cannot possibly work, it is in the worst possible position: facing a debate that risks being decided by emotion rather than fact.
