From Guy de Faye, former Transport and Technical Services Minister.
THE principle and practical requirements of importing waste from Guernsey for disposal at Jersey’s new Energy from Waste plant at La Collette are matters that have been discussed at considerable length by authorities in both islands, over at least the last four years.

Indeed it would have been irresponsible, in my view, to pursue such a major project without investigating the possibilities of inter-island co-operation on waste disposal issues, where there may have been mutual benefits to all parties concerned.

In that context, I am afraid that the Environment Scrutiny panel’s current proposition, demanding that no discussion or negotiations should take place on importing waste for treatment at Jersey’s waste plant until Jersey’s States has approved the concept of waste importation, is unfortunately ill-informed and hopelessly out of date.

It would be entirely feasible for container loads of Guernsey’s waste to be shipped to Jersey, unloaded and emptied into the incinerator’s holding bunker and, if required, filled with incinerator ash for reshipping back to Guernsey. In practice, such importation from our sister island would involve some additional container freight (with associated harbour dues), a marginal impact on traffic (assuming no dedicated unloading berth with relatively direct access to La Collette) and a very significant income stream of considerable benefit to Jersey.

However, it became clear during the communications between the Transport and Technical Services Department and Guernsey’s Public Services Department that the cost of shipping waste to Jersey for disposal was estimated to be more expensive than establishing an independent waste disposal solution in Guernsey. This view was confirmed at ministerial level during an informal meeting held between myself and Guernsey’s Deputy Bernard Flouquet, supported by relevant department officers.

As matters have transpired, it may be that the shipment of waste to Jersey is now looking more economically viable for Guernsey although, in the meantime, an ongoing inter-island waste disposal solution is no longer possible following the decision to reduce the overall tonnage capacity of the Jersey plant.

At this point, may I refute the wholly inaccurate suggestions that the Jersey EFW plant is still over capacity, meaning that Jersey is under pressure to import waste. Those claims really are rubbish. The plant is based on two operational streams, in other words, it has two incinerators which can be run singly or in tandem, offering a very flexible approach to operational capacity.

It also facilitates convenient maintenance and repair and, when a grate is not operational, its working life is duly extended. The two streams will operate at maximum efficiency from when they are brand new, which allows Jersey to accommodate Guernsey’s waste for a number of years initially. In due course, operational efficiency falls away, meaning that only a temporary solution to Guernsey’s waste disposal problems can now be offered.

It remains the prerogative of the Environment Scrutiny panel to call for a debate on waste importation, but the fact that the panel has done so has clearly skewed the political debate in Guernsey, contrary to the panel’s reported intentions. Now that the principle has been raised, it should be resolved as soon as possible.