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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to prevent the (a) replacement and (b) upgrade of incineration plants in England.

Defra has no plans to introduce a moratorium on new Energy from Waste capacity in England. There is no financial advantage for either the public sector or the market to deliver excess Energy from Waste capacity and proposed developments must not result in overcapacity of Energy from Waste treatment at a national or local level. We want to see greater plant efficiency through, for example, wider utilisation of the heat released during combustion in district heating networks.