Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the impact of (a) incinerators and (b) air pollution on (i) Black and (ii) Asian communities.

The Government recognises there is more to do to protect all people in our society and the environment from the effects of air pollution. This is why we are taking the significant and wide-ranging action to drive improvements to air quality as set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.

This action is supported by the Environment Act 2021, which makes sure that local authorities have the necessary powers to tackle emissions collaboratively in their local area to improve air quality. Through the Act we also introduced two new targets for fine particulate matter, the pollutant most damaging to human health, setting a maximum annual mean concentration target and a population exposure reduction target. This dual-target approach will improve public health for all by tackling the highest concentrations whilst ensuring all areas benefit from continuous improvement.

We continue to support local authorities in England to take action in their communities through the Local Air Quality Grant, which has awarded around £53 million to almost 500 projects since 2010

With regards to incinerators, in England all large waste incinerators cannot operate unless issued with an environmental permit by the Environment Agency (EA). The EA will only grant a permit if they are satisfied that the proposal would not give rise to any significant pollution of the environment or harm to human health, irrespective of the location of the plant. The EA also consults the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on every permit application they receive. The UKHSA’s position relating to incineration is that modern, well-run and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health

Under their permit, the operator must comply with the Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions for waste incineration. These BAT conclusions were reviewed and updated in 2019, introducing new standards which deliver an improved level of environmental protection. This includes even lower Emission Limit Values (ELVs) for oxides of nitrogen, particulates, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, dioxins and a number of other pollutants. All environmental permits for existing waste incinerators were reviewed and updated by the compliance deadline of 3rd December 2023 to reflect these new standards.