Protester Ben Griffith outside the plant in Edmonton in 2022

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ISLINGTON’S waste authority must act “as if the climate emergency is a real thing”, green campaigners have said, calling on the government to ­cancel construction of a waste incinerator in north London.

Run by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) the new incinerator in Edmonton will burn rubbish from seven north London boroughs – including Islington and Camden – and convert it into energy, replacing an ageing facility that has been on the site since 1971.

But as labour shortages and high material costs cause construction delays, 35 environmental groups – four from Islington – have penned an open letter urging the government to “pause and rethink” the project.

Local campaigners also took their pleas directly to Islington Council.

Addressing the Town Hall last week, activist and member of Islington Environment Alliance Ben Griffith said: “We must stop greenwashing incineration.“It’s not green, or circular or sustainable, and pretending otherwise is discouraging waste recycling and reduction.”

Mr Griffith told the Tribune that the construction delays and the new Labour government led campaigners to revive their opposition to the incinerator.

Although building work started in 2022, they believe there is still a chance to change direction.

The campaigners’ open letter – also signed by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – notes that burning household rubbish in giant incinerators is now the dirtiest way the UK generates electricity, according to analysis by the BBC.

Carbon emissions from the Edmonton incinerator will be roughly the same as the emissions from Islington borough itself, and will pollute the air in a region with high rates of poverty and a high proportion of ethnic minority Londoners, causing campaigners from the Stop The Edmonton Incinerator Now group to call it “fundamentally unjust”.

Objectors to the waste incinerator plans join street demonstrations

In response to Mr Griffith’s speech, Islington’s recycling chief Councillor Gary Heather said that “in an ideal world” he would not support the incinerator, but that he did not see any other short-term alternatives to waste disposal, especially as only about 30 per cent of waste is recycled.

He referred to the possibility of using carbon capture technology to make the incinerator less polluting, but Green Cllr Caroline Russell – who opposed the incinerator when it was voted on by Islington’s full council in 2021 – said she hoped “we don’t go anywhere near carbon capture”, which is expensive and seen as a distraction by green groups.

Independent councillor Phil Graham said burning waste made him “uneasy”, but that it was unrealistic to think residents – particularly the elderly and those living in flats – would go to the trouble of separating their rubbish unless the council makes it easier to do so.

Mr Griffith agreed that the council must think “quite radically” about how to change that, but that what is ultimately needed is a “step change away from incineration” and a focus on reducing waste.

In a letter responding to the campaigners NLWA chair, Waltham Forest Labour councillor Clyde Loakes, wrote: “NLWA is replacing the oldest energy from waste plant in the country, on the same site, with a facility that will have the best emissions controls in the country.

“The new facility will support a heat network for thousands of residents and provide the best value for the taxpayer. Cancelling this project halfway through construction would be the worst possible outcome.

“We are disappointed that campaigners continue to attempt to stop a project which has been under construction for two years. The project is already bringing award-winning economic and employment opportunities for north London’s residents, including those who live nearest the site.”