Composting plant is in wrong place

SIR - I support the recycling of as much material as possible and In-Vessel composting is certainly a good system . However I have watched the build of the in-vessel composting site with interest at Deep Moor and am still completely non-plussed as to its

SIR - I support the recycling of as much material as possible and In-Vessel composting is certainly a good system .

However I have watched the build of the in-vessel composting site with interest at Deep Moor and am still completely non-plussed as to its siting.

It seems that North Devon in its rush to be green has again missed a vital factor in the green world. That is road transport, which considering the siting of the in-vessel composter far from the primary sources of waste will of course mean the majority of this low-grade, low value waste has to be trucked from its main sources of production, towns, out into the countryside.

A by-product of in-vessel composting is leachate, a liquid product which cannot all be recycled in the system. This will then have to removed, again by road to a suitable treatment plant, as there is none at Deep Moor.

The plant should have been sited much closer to the main sources of waste production, with good road connections and minimising the distances raw waste has to be moved. High quality clean end product, compost, can then be efficiently packed and moved to the end-users in an efficient clean manner.

Siting of in-vessel plants can be right in the heart of a city such as the London Waste EcoPark, Edmonton, North London, so why was Deep Moor commissioned so far from the major sources of production?

With a lifetime of 10 - 25 years being quoted for typical in-vessel plant this will equate to millions of miles of unnecessary road transport, Which will be paid for both in economic and environmental terms by the North Devon community.

Ian Waddington, Torrington.