Reducing the use of plastic at source – and not recycling it, binning it or burning it – is key to preventing more long-term pollution and climate change, says campaigner Ben Bell.

And the co-ordinator of Plastic Free Swindon says the borough council’s waste processing plant at Waterside Park, which turns non-recyclable household waste into fuel for the cement industry, is not a green measure – despite the council saying it keeps the waste it uses out of landfill.

Mr Bell said: “The solid recovered fuel plant at Cheney Manor is promoted by the borough council as one of 'a number of initiatives that continue to benefit the council, its residents and the wider borough'. How is polluting the environment beneficial to anyone? The reality of the plant is the indirect burning of plastic and other waste.”

Mr Bell says drying the waste in the plant requires energy, burning more fuel, and it simply moves the problem of the pollution caused elsewhere.

He also believes the council presenting the plant as a green facility means residents might feel they can throw away more, including plastic, without doing harm to the environment.

He said: “The borough council’s messaging on waste incineration or waste-to-energy is wrong; enabling plastic pollution to continue as people may then believe these processes to be healthy and beneficial.

“Plastic pollutes throughout its life not just at disposal, so the key to dealing with plastic pollution is reducing plastic production to use natural materials, not plastic recycling, incineration and landfill. 

“I wrote to Keith Williams (the borough council’s cabinet member for climate change) about the contribution of plastic to climate change, citing the large body of evidence presented in the Plastic and Climate report by the Center For International Environmental Law. 

“Plastic is a major and increasing factor in climate change, directly and indirectly. Yet the borough council make no mention it at all in its carbon reduction strategy of 2020.

“We need to be moving towards zero waste. Instead we are being tied into waste incineration contracts for years to come, facilitating the continued use of plastic and other toxic synthetic chemicals that poison the environment.”

In response, Coun Williams said: “The council provides a fortnightly kerbside plastic waste collection service for local residents and currently around 1,000 tonnes of Swindon plastic is sent for recycling within the UK every year.

“Although we would prefer that no oil-based plastic waste was generated, the council has to provide a disposal route for residents until manufacturers find acceptable alternatives either through choice or legislation and a plastic-free community can be achieved.

“The council monitors emerging technologies such as pyrolysis and plasmafication for alternatives that would reduce the processing and transport footprint of non-recyclable waste. However, the lengths we go to have to be balanced against the financial costs that are borne by Swindon residents.”

Coun Williams said there were discussions behind the scenes on  changes, but they could not be aired in public.

He said: “The council is currently reviewing its waste disposal arrangements, which could have a major impact on aspects of how we dispose of Swindon’s waste. While this process is ongoing, it is not possible to comment on it for legal and commercial reasons as explained to Mr Bell previously.” 

The SRF plant  at  Waterside Park in Cheney Manor industrial estate is owned and operated by Public Power Solutions – but the company is wholly-owned by Swindon Borough Council.

In 2018 the council considered  stopping collecting plastic for recycling for the kerbside and sending it to the SRF plant instead, citing fears the collected plastic just ended up in the Far East and causing pollution. It dropped the plan after criticism including some from the government of the day.