Mr. Michael Phillips:

The initial plans were drawn up at the time when the EU strategy had not been fully developed. The Deputy asked why it was initially proposed to have incinerators in eight regions and it is now proposed to have them in only three regions. This is because the project is maturing. So far this year, we have exported 400,000 tonnes of waste. By year end, we will probably have exported 500,000 tonnes of waste. Is it right that we are exporting this waste to another country? This waste is not going into landfill because there is no desire to pay the landfill tax. We are moving towards zero landfill by 2020 or thereabouts. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the alternative in the hierarchy. In terms of waste to energy and electricity and heat generation, incineration will be a comprehensive system. It will not be reliant on fossil fuels and will result in savings on imports and carbon emissions. For a local community, this is a very sustainable solution. As already indicated earlier, the quantity of waste required to service the system will be available into the future.