LIB DEM CONFERENCE: Euro-MP says to Brighton: "We don't want your rubbish!"

11.04.45am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 22nd Sep 2003

Speaking today at the Liberal Democrats Conference in Brighton, Staffordshire Euro-MP Liz Lynne is calling on Brighton and East Sussex not to dump its waste in Stoke-on-Trent.

Under extraordinary plans drawn up by the two councils earlier this year, rubbish from the South Coast will be driven 450 miles up to Stoke to be incinerated if their waste disposal contractors fail to meet their targets.

Commenting, Liz said:

"This is a completely absurd proposal and shows what a mess the government's waste management strategy really is. The intention behind reducing reliance on landfill was not to allow councils to dump their waste on someone else's doorstep to deal with. Filling our motorways with lorries filled with junk is the height of insanity.

"Under proposals being debated at the Lib Dem conference today, the party would commit itself to a strategy for drastically reducing municipal waste. We would achieve this through a drastic increase in recycling and composting, reforming Landfill Tax into a broader Waste Tax to remove the incentives for incineration and other unsustainable waste disposal options, and encouraging the manufacture, promotion and use of reusable, durable and recyclable products."