Shropshire Council Planning Committee refused planning permission, but Veolia appealed and won after a public enquiry.
Shrewsbury foe campaigned against the incinerator from the moment it was announced and were a major opponent at the Inquiry. The reasons for campaigning are still valid:-
1. It is expensive
2. It removes the incentive to push for maximum recycling.
3. There are concerns that the emissions to atmosphere are detrimental to health.
4. Only 25% of the potential energy is utilised to prduce electricity. Heat recovery and use could raise overall energy efficiencyt to 70-80%.
Veolia have managed to process and recycle all the ash as a construction material and are investigating whether it is feasible to provide some heat to a close-by processing plant.
These are positive developments and although no domestic waste is now going to landfill, the hope must be that in future systems and processes are adopted that do maximise recycling and avoid the detrimental effects of incineration.