Waste company Onyx have applied to build an incinerator (or "Energy Recovery Facility") at North Quay in Newhaven, to burn waste from all over East Sussex & Brighton and Hove city. Friends of the Earth are working alongside anti-incinerator protest group Defenders of the Ouse Valley to fight this application (See www.dove2000.org.uk [1]). The proposal would see over half of the waste in the area, much of it recyclable, dumped on Newhaven and burnt. There are many concerns over the pollution caused by this way of dealing with waste, and health worries about some of the toxic by-products: incinerators release acidic gases (responsible for respiratory problems), dioxins (which suppress the immune system, cause cancer, affect fertility, cause endocrine disruption, learning disabilities and behavioural problems) and heavy metals (Cadmium can affect the lungs and kidneys, Lead causes nerve and brain damage, Mercury affects the central nervous system). It all makes you think it might be wiser to produce less waste in the first place... The incinerator is at the heart of the Waste Local Plan, the blueprint for dealing with waste in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove. There have been tens of thousands of objections to it but to date the local councils have ignored them all and are pressing ahead with the plan. Friends of the Earth are calling for councils to increase their recycling and composting to 50% by 2015 and provide smaller, more local facilities to deal with waste nearer to where it is collected. They will only be able to achieve these aims with popular support – and that means you! To join those saying “No” to the Newhaven incinerator, and for more information visit Foes website [2].