No Dump at Minabpol

by a realistic view Wed Jan 26, 2005 17:48

As someone who works in the watse management area, and also has the deepest respect for our environment, I daily see the contradictory nature of local opposition towards all types of waste management facilities. The root of the problem is the amount of waste that we are producing as a society. There is absolutely no point in opposing the development of facilities such as landfills, incinerators etc., unless we are completely committed to fundamentally changing the way our society goes about its daily business. When a facility such as the one being talked about here is proposed, it takes very little time for a local opposition group to be formed and start objecting to its development. And groups such as the Zero Waste Alliance are quick to lend their support. I completely support the idea of a zero waste society, but it very unlikely that this is going to happen in the forseeable future How are we going to recycle hugh amounts of waste such as cardboard and plastic locally? Any community has only got a certain amount that they can practically use. We consume absolutely massive amounts of products that have even more packaging associated with them. There is no way that the local community around where this landfill is earmarked for could use locally the packaging that they produce. The fact is that the way in which this society lives requires us to have facilities such as landfills and incinerators to enable us to deal with the amount of waste that we produce. It has to be also pointed out that over the last ten years, hugh steps with regard to ensuring that these faclities have as little impact on the environment as possible. They are very strictly monitored, and the emissions allowed from them are calculated before their commission to ensure they do not damage the environment. Most engineered landfills that have been constructed recently are absolutely amazing in the way in which they deal with both the methane emissions and the leachate produced. The methane is not allowed to escape to the atmosphere to add to our greenhouse woes, but is used as a fuel to power turbines that produce electricity, and the leachate is gathered, and treated before disposal. We are quick to believe the producers of consumer goods when they say that they have made the products with our best interests at heart, and so we go out and buy them(what is Nutrilium any way, and does it really make my hair shinier), but yet we are slow to believe those who try to ensure that the waste that we generate does not harm us. The first have a vested interest in promoting their goods and getting us to but them, yet the people who try to convince us that they are trying to ensure that the leachate from the landfill will not affect the water in the area are just doing their job, and not making massive amounts of money from doing it. So unless we can change our society from one that is consuming itself off the face of the planet to one that has respect for its resources, then we should stop to think where the wastes that Joe Public is generating will go. Even if all the people who are involved with these campaigns were to start using cloth nappies, glass bottles and mended all their own clothes, we would still need somewhere to put the waste generated by the other less conscientious citizens.
There are of course problems associated with these facilities ie traffic, asthetic impact, POTENTIAL adverse environmental effects etc. but these have to be weighed against the immediate alternative, which is no landfill space, and waste building up all over the place. Waste production must be decreased as soon as possible, but with the way our economy and society is going, its a long way off becoming a zero waste one. I know to advocate the use of incinerators is to invite all sorts of abuse and allegations of abuse of the environment, but when run properly, as all newly commissioned ones would surely be, they would be of massive benefit to all of us. But thats a comment for a different day. As for landfills, they are essential, right here, right now.

by Tom Allan - Indymedia Scotland Sun Feb 27, 2005 13:28 w_t_allan at yahoo dot com Edinburgh

Excellent article, and an interesting response from "realistic".

Thought you might be interested in this article about Greengairns, a community in Lanarkshir ein Scotland, that has had to put up with decades of open cast coal mining and then landfill sites. Perhaps there is some scope for co-operation between these communities.

Whilst I take the point about the importance of lower consumption as being critical to reducing dependence upon landfill, there is surely little justice in expecting certain communities to suffer the adverse consequences of out love affair with packaging, whilst others, particularly urban centres, avoid the social and environmental costs. The landfills at Greengairns receives much of the rubbish from Glasgow, a city with a poor record on recycling. The one proposed for you're area is apparently for the whole county. Should these communities have to pay the price so that others can continue the same lifestyle?

There is a practical point, as well as a moral one. Council tax rises and education campaigns are slow to change attitudes towards our waste culture. The conection between the quality of our environment, in the personal sense of what is around us, and what we throw away, should be maintained. In other words, if city dwellers like myself had to have the landfills in our back gardens, or have it burnt round the corner, you can bet we'd by recycling, reusing and reducing our waste like mad. Of course, that scenario is ridiculous, because cities are oncentrations of wealth, power and voters, who would immediately be up in arms voting out their councils. Rural communities are smaller, marginalised, and thus easier targets.

Anyway, I'll be doing a story about the Gelngairns community and its history. Please let me know what the outcome of your efforts was, and good luck.