Toxic plan hits waste
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By Kathy Watson and Amanda Bradbury
• Waste hauliers could be hit by Government intervention to halt imports of toxic waste.
Environment secretary Michael Howard is trying to block plans to import 1,400 tonnes of waste from Germany.
The deal, involving waste specialist ReChem's Pontypool incinerator, represents over 3% of its capacity. The company says "a number" of local firms are used.
If it sets a precedent, Howard's move is likely to hit hard at Cleanaway's Ellesmere Port incinerator and Leigh Environmental's solvent recovery plant at Killamarsh, South Yorks, according to an independent source.
Cleanaway, whose transport is handled by "two to three firms", says 5% of the work at Ellesmere Port is imported waste. Leigh was not available for comment. Howard's intervention could pre-empt the May 1994 deadline set by a new EC directive which will force developed countries to dispose of toxic waste within their borders—the National Association of Waste Disposal Contractors says hauliers have been thrown into confusion by the move.
Some 47,000 tonnes of haz ardous waste is imported into the UK each year, but waste specialists say that it is not very lucrative work.
Henry Johnson, managing director of Hull-based AS Hauliers, says the toxic waste it handles only amounts to one or two containers in every 100-. "We only get around 5% extra," says Johnson.