Incinerator proposal approved: Decision is a warning to cut waste dramatically

Two of our world’s conflicting but defining forces — the growing threat of climate destruction and the mountains of polluting waste generated by our relentless consumerism — collided yesterday when it was announced that An Bord Pleanála (ABP) granted planning permission for a controversial €160m Indaver waste incinerator in Cork Harbour.

It is envisaged that the plant, a waste-to-energy facility first proposed in 2001, will process 240,000 tonnes of commercial, industrial, hazardous or domestic waste each year. Dublin’s Poolbeg incinerator is at full capacity and processes about 1,800 tonnes of solid waste a day — approximately 65,000 tonnes a year, just a quarter of the quantities expected by Indaver.