I’m tired of pollution filling the lungs of my children, suffocating those that live in poorer, more industrial parts of the country (the government allowed a mega-incinerator in Edmonton but rejected one in Cambridge). I’m tired of incinerators claiming to be environmentally-friendly while they pour out greenhouse gases that are destroying the planet.

Companies like power stations and landfill operators have to pay tax for the burden their pollution creates on society, which means the less they pollute, the less tax they pay. But not incinerators – they do not pay tax as a rubbish disposal route or as a major CO2 emitter. This leaves tax payers to pick up the bill for the increased costs to the NHS of asthma, strokes and heart disease related to air pollution, and for costs related to climate change impacts like flooding.

I have spent the last year alongside tireless campaigners asking MPs, incinerator operators and local councils to stop burning our rubbish, but they’re just not listening. As an environmental engineer, I know that there are cleaner, greener ways to reduce, reuse and recycle materials that make a fairer society for everyone. Enough is enough!

In 2019, the UK had 48 incinerators that poured 6.6 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere – and didn’t pay a single penny for it. That’s the same as all the emissions from Birmingham and Manchester put together. Worse, a further 100 incinerators are either under construction or seeking planning permission. We’re in the grip of incineration insanity.