Stop the Incinerator: Protect Our Community

Thousands Unite to Block Permit for Hazardous and Clinical Waste Incinerator Next to Newton Aycliffe Wildlife Site, Residents, Businesses, and Schools

County Durham residents, educators,

businesses, and environmental advocates have launched a major campaign to stop the Environment Agency from approving a permit for Fornax Environmental Solutions Ltd's hazardous and clinical waste incinerator.

A facility to house the incinerator is already built and now awaits the green light to install the equipment required to begin burning toxic materials just metres from schools, nurseries, homes, and wildlife areas.

Despite fierce opposition from the community and elected officials, Fornax Environmental Solutions Ltd, backed by private equity and believed to also be backed by local government pension funds, has pressed ahead with the construction of the facility on Aycliffe Business Park.

The facility is next to a wetland area, home to an array of wildlife. Concerningly (during planning), ecological surveys were conducted on this site when water levels were at their seasonal lowest, therefore misrepresenting the environmental value of this site. It is also by Demons Beck, a tributary of the River Skerne, an already ecologically degraded watercourse. The introduction of this incinerator threatens to reverse recent environmental improvements made to the river and its surrounding ecosystem.

The facility is approximately 600 meters from a school, which has over 400 pupils. It is also close to a nursery with over 70 children, and within a mile radius are numerous other schools and kids' activity centres.

Operating 8 am – 10 pm, the incinerator facility will impact all those working and living within a 12-mile radius, with a devastating impact on health and the environment, including farmland and wildlife. Farming takes place just 300 metres from the facility, with livestock destined for the human food chain. Alarmingly, a 2024 study by Imperial College found traces of PCBs and dioxins in breast milk from mothers living within 12 miles of UK incinerators!

Local campaigners are outraged that this incinerator facility (initially denied planning permission) has become yet another example of the North East unfairly targeted as a dumping ground for hazardous waste.

The incinerator, designed to burn 10,500 tonnes of hazardous and clinical waste annually, will release dangerous pollutants, including:

• Dioxins and furans – known to cause cancer, damage the immune system, and interfere with hormones and reproductive health

• Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) – linked to asthma, lung disease, heart attacks, and impaired child development

• Heavy metals – such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, which accumulate in the body and can harm the brain and nervous system

Children are especially vulnerable to incinerator emissions due to their developing organs, faster breathing rates, and the heightened risks associated with long-term exposure - asthma, neurodevelopmental disorders, and childhood cancers.

The facility will also attract a flow of heavy vehicles to the site. In the planning statement, Fornax stated that they expect, on average, 2 HGVs per hour. Based on operating hours, that’s 56 movements per day, taking into account entering and leaving the facility. In another case, campaigners in Test Valley, Hampshire, reported that Wheelabrator (the U.S. firm behind the plan) had admitted at a public meeting to expecting around 140 lorry movements per day, with the company later suggesting 400 movements per day, equating to a vehicle every four minutes nonstop in and out of the site.

Campaigners fighting the Fornax incinerator are gaining momentum with a fast-growing Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/495317788261224), meetings with local government representatives, schools and businesses, as well as leaflet drops and appearances on local radio.

Lola McEvoy, Labour Member of Parliament for Darlington, has written to all residents in the immediately affected area, encouraging them to formally contribute views during the Environment Agency’s consultation period, which ends on the 27th of June 2025 - https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/dl5-6ug-fornax-north-east-limited-epr-qp3720lp-a00/.

A public meeting with the Environment Agency on the TO BE CONFIRMED will provide residents with the opportunity to raise their concerns and call for a full, independent review of the health and environmental risks posed by the facility.

“This is not just a local planning issue - it is about ethics, protecting our local wildlife, the health of our people, and our children’s health and future,” said a campaign spokesperson.

Campaigners are asking people to join the fight to stop the planned incinerator from causing catastrophic health and environmental impacts. You can submit an objection, citing the above (before the 27th of June) to the Environment Agency at https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/dl5-6ug-fornax-north-east-limited-epr-qp3720lp-a00/.

Important Notice to Editors and Journalists

The following press release has been prepared by a collective of residents expressing concerns about the proposed commissioning of Fornax Environmental Solutions Ltd’s hazardous and clinical waste incinerator and the company's final-stage application to the Environment Agency.

This document reflects the group’s understanding based on information gathered from publicly available planning documents, expert consultations, online sources, and local engagement. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the group does not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. It is the sole responsibility of any media outlet or third party to independently verify all facts and claims prior to publication or broadcast.