Energy from waste plans win backers

OVERWHELMING public support has been given to proposals for the development of an "energy from waste" plant which could help cleanly dispose of up to 100,000 tonnes of household rubbish each year.

Almost 90 per cent of people questioned about the plans in a survey into the council's treatment of waste backed the scheme to create a recycling plant heating homes by burning Edinburgh and Midlothian's rubbish.

While support for the proposals was not as strong with people living close to the proposed site – a former rail yard at Monktonhall colliery in Millerhill, Midlothian – 85 per cent still backed the plans.

Both councils now intend to apply for planning permission in principle for the 2 million site.

The Midlothian incinerator, likely to cost up to 0.5bn over the next 25 to 30 years, would produce electricity or heat through the energy released by burning waste. The site would handle up to 200,000 tonnes of waste a year.

Environmental protesters say energy from waste plants causes unacceptable releases of too much carbon dioxide, but the two authorities say it is preferable to the methane released into the atmosphere by landfill sites.