Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

It has to be got rid of, but how?

The Environment Select Committee of WC will look at the way our waste is disposed of at a meeting in County Hall today.

Reducing the amount of household waste going to landfill is being regarded as a priority. Apart from any environmental consideration, landfill tax is only going to go one way (up). So, for both environmental and economic reasons, WC is looking at alternatives.

Fifty thousand tonnes per annum of Wiltshire waste is currently taken to Slough to be incinerated, and sixty thousand tonnes will go to Westbury to be processed at a new Mechanical Biological Treatment plant. This produces fuel known as Solid Recovered Fuel. Of the initial batch it is planned that about half will go as SRF, some material will be recycled, and what's left will go to landfill. The contract for this is due to be signed next month.