Northern Ireland's Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon, has decided to refuse planning approval for the construction of a waste to energy plant near Belfast. Backed by Arc21, an umbrella waste management group for six councils in the east of Northern Ireland, the residual waste treatment centre was to have been built on the site of the former Hightown Quarry in Newtownabbey. Due to its size and classification as a "regionally significant planning application", the decision was made by the minister rather than the local council.
In a statement issued by the Department for Infrastructure on 27 March, Ms Mallon said that she did not consider there to be a need for the proposed plant. Moreover, she believed the additional incineration capacity could threaten advances in recycling....
