AN ENVIRONMENTAL campaign has criticised Swindon Borough Council's decision to change how it handles our waste.

From April 1, Viridor will take over the work currently carried out by council-owned Public Power Solutions, in a contract worth £58million.

As a result, Swindon's waste will no longer be dried and transported to Eastern Europe to be burnt in cement kilns, and will instead be burnt more locally, a decision that "is not solving environmental issues, just moving them around".

That's according to Plastic Free Swindon, a campaign designed to help end plastic pollution.

A spokesperson for the group said: "Waste-to-energy is another term for waste incineration.  It could be said that the term is greenwashing because it  attempts to imply that such energy generation is positive.

"According to UKWIN, 'incineration releases significantly more CO2 for every kWh exported to the electricity grid than the conventional use of fossil fuels, with the incineration of plastics being worse than coal'."

It says that waste incineration lowers recycling rates,  is a barrier to zero waste, pollutes the environment with noxious substances, uses energy and resources, and contributes to climate change.

The spokesperson added: "Profit continues to come before the well-being of life on Earth. Accordingly there is a strong case for waste services to be made public."