Scams.&.Scandals.S2024E06.The.Nightmare.Next.Door
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Millions of tons of Britain's household waste are burnt to make electricity at incinerators across the UK every year.
00:11We're becoming the rubbish backyard of England. It's just another kick in the face.
00:17I've been investigating the rapid growth of these facilities and their impact on local communities.
00:23We've been inundated with flies, rats, smell, noise. It's just been horrendous.
00:30These black bag waste burners are often built in some of the UK's most deprived cities and towns.
00:36It's not an accident that we're burning waste over the poorest regions of the country.
00:41We've got big business here involved. Bully boy businesses.
00:44Take it to another area and let them deal with it. We're not a dumping ground. We live here.
00:53Within two hours we've got one, two, three, four, five. There's one up there, one there, one there, one there.
01:11Absolutely disgusting and this is my kitchen.
01:14Mandy Royal's home in Runcorn in the north west of England is no different to millions of others around the UK.
01:21Apart from having Britain's biggest incinerator as her next door neighbour.
01:25The plant burns vast amounts of household rubbish to make electricity.
01:30The facility, Mandy says, has had a negative effect on her life.
01:34Look how thick it is. It's blown straight at our houses and we're breathing all that in.
01:39And that's my garden. So if you want to sit in the garden and enjoy the sun, you've got the smell, the steam, flies and then the noise as well.
01:51We've got an old shape of houses and I've been round and counted them and it's 11 empty.
01:56No one wants to live down here anymore. So the houses are going to rock and ruin as well.
02:02This giant furnace has been burning waste for almost a decade. Last year nearly a million tons of rubbish arrived in Runcorn for incineration from all over the north of England.
02:15Well, I've lived here since 1998 and then in 2015 they decided to put the incinerator in my front garden.
02:24Well, it felt like my front garden. And ever since it's just been a nightmare.
02:29We've been inundated with flies, rats, smell, noise. It's just been horrendous.
02:37Have you thought about moving? Is that something you'd want to do?
02:40I've tried to. Who's going to buy my house down here? I can't afford to move my business and sell the house.
02:47So I'm sort of stuck. I'm stuck in a rut down here.
02:51You're embarrassed to have people come round, you know, seeing where you live.
02:55It's ugly and looks like a prison. It stinks. It's noisy.
02:59I'm just stuck in this little corner with a big monster staring at me.
03:03Upset by the environmental impact on their lives, a group of local residents launched a civil claim against the incinerator operator, Viridor, over issues like dust, noise and smells.
03:16About two weeks before Christmas in 2023, they were offered a million pounds settlement.
03:22The money was split between 180 households, giving them each a share of about £4,500.
03:33Just around the corner from Mandy's home, George Parker runs a garage.
03:38He was offered the payout by Viridor, but rejected it.
03:42You must be George.
03:43I'm here.
03:44Nice to meet you. How are you doing?
03:45I'm fine, thank you.
03:46If you wanted the money, you had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which everybody did.
03:51I didn't.
03:52Why didn't you?
03:53Well, I think they've been unfair in what they're paying and completely unfair what they're doing.
04:01You know, they're damaging the environment, not just for me and not just this area.
04:05They're paying a million pound out and getting everybody to sign this order.
04:09In other words, a million pound hush fund and a gagging order.
04:13Unfortunately, we've got big business here involved.
04:16Bully boy businesses.
04:17And that's what they are.
04:18Unfortunately, they're a bully.
04:20And that's what they're proven to be.
04:22They're just, all they think now, we'll pay this,
04:25or this million pound payout and the problem will go away.
04:29The problem is still here.
04:31The problem is still here.
04:32Non-recyclable waste can be used to create low carbon power.
04:37Viridor said it won't make any comment in relation to the payout and the non-disclosure agreement.
04:43It did tell us it's heavily regulated by the Environment Agency
04:47and the amount of noise and odour from its incinerator remain within permitted levels
04:52and only water vapour is released from its facility, not smoke.
04:57It's said that any complaints it gets are fully investigated and fed back to local residents.
05:02But Mandy feels the company isn't doing enough.
05:06When you've gone to Viridor, have they listened to your complaints?
05:09Have they said they'll do anything about it?
05:11You can't get through to Viridor and you have to go through the environmental health or do it that way.
05:16But I bet Mr Viridor hasn't got one of these in his front garden.
05:19They've added a mess to the community.
05:21Yeah, they've not...
05:23In my eyes, they haven't done anything.
05:25They've just given us a life of hell for the last nine years.
05:29They would say that, look, we're doing this because it's better for the environment
05:32than putting this rubbish into landfill.
05:34At least we're creating electricity out of it, we're creating energy out of it.
05:38Surely that's a good thing.
05:40Why do it here? Why don't we do it in a remote place?
05:42Why in front of a residential area?
05:44Because it's a poor place and it doesn't matter because it's a poor area.
05:47It's just where, you know, we're poor people.
05:50Let's just stick it there in front of their houses.
05:52Data analysed by the BBC shows that waste is ten times more likely
06:00to be burned in the most deprived areas of the UK, like Runcorn,
06:04compared to the best-off neighbourhoods.
06:09Eddie Thompson manages seven food banks in the town.
06:13So that's seven public-facing distribution centres open every single day
06:19and they're used every single day.
06:21We've seen in the last two years a 200% increase.
06:24200% in two years is a huge reflection of how the cost of living
06:31and Covid has affected the community itself.
06:36The incinerator has been here nearly a decade now.
06:39How has that impacted the community?
06:41The incinerator has brought a feeling as though we have become a dumping ground
06:47and we're a second-class area compared to everywhere else.
06:52I'm no expert in mental health but I do feel as though because it is looked at as a dumping ground,
07:02mentally people feel as though in some cases they're worthless.
07:09I don't blame Viridore or anything like that but I do look at are we getting it right?
07:15Putting everything, all bad stuff in one place.
07:22Viridore does make a contribution to the community through actions like sponsoring the local football team,
07:28Runcorn Town, who play their home matches in the shadow of the incinerator.
07:34We've got a great relationship to be fair.
07:37Ever since they opened they've been our main sponsors on the front of the shirt
07:40as well as sponsoring the club that way they sponsor this ground as well.
07:44People complain about the noise and the smell and the steam coming out of it.
07:49Have you had any experience with that here?
07:51No, we don't really. I think possibly because we play on a Saturday afternoon and midweek evening one or two times a year,
08:00maybe Tuesday evening and perhaps the schedule's not as busy then but we don't see any of that to be fair.
08:07For some people in the town the incinerator has been controversial. What's your view?
08:12I do see sort of where they're coming from, you know, from a football club point of view.
08:20You know, we're here, there, 200 yards over the road.
08:23We're not going anywhere and they're not going anywhere.
08:25So we've got to have that good relationship just as we do any other sort of local companies in the area.
08:31And, you know, they have been great with us.
08:34Over the past 20 years there's been a huge shift in the way the UK manages its waste.
08:43We used to bury our bin bags underground in large landfill sites.
08:47But as concerns grew over emissions of the planet warming gas methane from these locations,
08:53governments have pushed up landfill taxes, forcing councils to look for cheaper alternatives.
08:59Viridor believes this waste should have a purpose too.
09:02Incinerator companies promised a better solution to landfill with the added advantage of generating energy.
09:11And in just a decade their numbers have doubled to around 60 currently with dozens more planned.
09:19These facilities turn the contents of our bins into heat by burning them in large furnaces.
09:25This creates steam from water and that steam drives the turbines that make electricity.
09:31Transforming our residual waste into power is a step in the right direction,
09:36making a vital contribution to Britain's renewable energy supply.
09:40Incinerator operators say their systems are a greener way of dealing with waste,
09:46producing less of the carbon emissions that are warming our planet.
09:50Gases formed as part of the process are treated and filtered before being safely released with steam.
09:59BBC research finds that these sites are now producing as much warming gas as if they were burning coal.
10:06With Britain ending its use of coal at power stations like this,
10:09our analysis shows energy from waste incinerators are now the UK's most carbon intense source of energy.
10:18We've also found that the amount of carbon dioxide coming from incinerators has increased by 40% over the past five years,
10:27as more and more plastic is being sent to these furnaces.
10:31Government advisers and experts are concerned that our continuing dependence on burning will mean we'll miss key climate goals.
10:41We've managed to reduce the amount of material that's going to landfill.
10:45If that has led to things being incinerated instead of being recycled,
10:51as incineration as you imply being the kind of, in inverted commas, easy option,
10:56that's definitely not the right outcome.
10:58We do have concerns about the building of new energy from a waste plant.
11:01This can't be seen as just a way of getting out of jail for free
11:05and dealing with the whole management of waste.
11:10The body that represents incinerator operators across the UK,
11:14the Environmental Services Association,
11:16says the rise in emissions is down to the growth in the number of facilities now burning waste.
11:22They insist that incineration is a better way of dealing with rubbish than using landfill.
11:31But there's another factor here that people don't think about,
11:34and that's the emissions created by the transport of waste.
11:38The BBC has learned that rubbish being sent to incinerators is rarely burnt locally.
11:44Our analysis shows it travels long distances across the country by truck or train.
11:51Two large incinerators in the North East take waste from around England,
11:55including from Merseyside, 150 miles away.
12:00This is Teesside, a key part of the UK's industrial heritage.
12:04For decades, blast furnaces along this river made steel for the world.
12:08But those days are gone.
12:10Now the furnaces around here are mainly used to incinerate our rubbish.
12:15We have an incinerator just over on this side that's already burning 400,000 tonnes worth of rubbish a year at Habenton Hill.
12:23Now, in the pipeline, there are other incinerators as well.
12:27The carbon output is huge.
12:29At the planetary level, it's a disaster because we're talking about 400,000 tonnes per year,
12:36over 30 years of carbon per incinerator.
12:41There's a potential here for the incinerators to be in double figures.
12:45And then for my area, for Redcar, my hometown, which has suffered a massive decline over the years,
12:52it's just another kick in the face.
12:54We're going to end up with a situation where we're in point.
12:57Everybody else is rubbish.
12:58We're becoming the rubbish backyard of England, at least.
13:03And it's simply not acceptable.
13:08The BBC's research also reveals that UK councils have at least £30 billion worth of contracts
13:14with waste operators involved in incineration.
13:18Some of these councils have been locked into deals lasting 30 years.
13:24On Teesside, local journalist Ray Casey feels signing up to this waste solution is short-sighted.
13:31On this clip, you can see a heap. It's blowing everywhere.
13:34The smell is overpowering.
13:37This town of Billingham, with a population of 35,000, now burns the waste for 2.3 million people,
13:44almost the entire population of the northeast of England.
13:47I can't think of another part of the UK that would tolerate that.
13:51I think it's down to our wish to bring any industry in here,
13:57and we're prepared to pay any price.
13:59Any steam that's not exported is fed into a turbine...
14:03Suez, which operates three energy from waste sites in the Tees Valley, told us,
14:08the facilities it operates provide an essential service for the local community,
14:12which it has a positive relationship with.
14:15And the Environment Agency, which regulates incinerators,
14:19says these sites are one of the most tightly regulated sectors
14:23and pose no risk to human health.
14:26Stop the blame! Stop the blame!
14:29But a group of medics are raising concerns about their impacts.
14:34We don't care in Newcastle, we just burn!
14:39We all want to live in a place where we can breathe clean air,
14:42where our communities and families can be safe and healthy
14:45and live in a clean environment.
14:47When you arrive here, you can feel it in the air.
14:49You can feel that it's dirty, it's smelly, it's noisy.
14:53And can you imagine what that would have, the impact that would have on your health?
14:56As health professionals in the region, we don't want to stand by
14:59as more and more incinerators get built on Teesside
15:02without raising the alarm about the health concerns
15:04and the environmental concerns,
15:06because people in this area deserve so much better.
15:14Travelling around incinerator towns like Runcorn
15:17and here in the Tees Valley, there's a familiar story.
15:20You get a sense that people feel undervalued and ignored,
15:24that they're rapidly becoming the solution
15:26to other people's waste problems.
15:29There's quite a noticeable smell of burning today.
15:31Oh, yeah.
15:32Is that your normal experience?
15:33That's a regular thing?
15:34Yeah.
15:35Every day.
15:36And that's from the incinerator?
15:38Nine out of ten times it's from the incinerator, yeah.
15:42You know, your car is constantly covered in ash and debris
15:49and that, we don't know what that is.
15:53We have no clue what's being burnt.
15:56Why can't they just use the landfill?
16:00Why do they have to keep putting incinerators up?
16:04You know, the banging, the incessant noise of vehicles coming up and down.
16:10The council would say it's creating some jobs and it's making electricity
16:15and those are good things.
16:17It's bringing some money to the area.
16:19Well, we've yet to see it.
16:22I've not yet seen any money spent in Port Clarence.
16:29I've lived here for eight years and it's no different.
16:35Take it to another area and let them deal with it and see what we,
16:39on a daily basis, have to go through.
16:42And nine out of ten people around here will go.
16:45Their attitude is, it's only Port Clarence, it don't matter.
16:49Well, I'm sorry, it does matter.
16:52The government says it's considering the role that waste incineration will play in the UK's future.
16:58But people living next door to these sites want to see their concerns taken more seriously.
17:04And they want their voices to be heard.
17:06We're not a dumping ground. We live here.
17:09This is our home and our area.
17:13Why should we have to put up with everything that we're putting up with?
17:22We're not a dumping ground.
17:24We're not a dumping ground.
17:25We're not a dumping ground.
17:26We're not a dumping ground.
17:27We're not a dumping ground.
17:28We're not a dumping ground.
17:29We're not a dumping ground.
17:30We're not a dumping ground.
17:31We're not a dumping ground.
17:32We're not a dumping ground.
17:33We're not a dumping ground.
17:34We're not a dumping ground.
17:35We're not a dumping ground.
17:36We're not a dumping ground.
17:37We're not a dumping ground.
17:38We're not a dumping ground.
17:39We're not a dumping ground.
17:40We're not a dumping ground ground.
17:41We're not a dumping ground ground.
17:42We're not a dumping ground ground.
17:43We're not a dumping ground ground.
17:44We're not a dumping ground ground.
17:45We're not a dumping ground ground.