SPLOTT residents had the chance to meet staff from the Trident Park incinerator to discuss its application to increase the amount of waste it burns.
Viridor, which runs the site, wants to increase the amount of non-recyclable waste it turns into energy from 350,000 tonnes per year to 425,000.
It also wants restrictions to be lifted so more local authorities across Wales can send their rubbish to be burnt at the Trident Park energy recovery facility.
A public exhibition at Moorland Community Centre explained that the incinerator already produces energy for 50,000 homes.
Campaigners have opposed the facility since it was first proposed in 2009. Residents and environmental groups have raised concerns about the impact on air quality around the site, increased traffic from HGVs, and worries that burning waste could discourage councils from meeting their recycling targets.
Green Party campaigner and Splott resident Andy Regan, 34, said: “There’s a real danger that incineration could come to totally dominate the waste market because it’s a quick fix. But ultimately it’s not a renewable power source, and it doesn’t contribute to a circular, sustainable economy.”
Viridor has also been accused of failing to meet its promise to provide heating to the local area.
Mr Regan said: “We think Viridor should deliver what they originally committed to before being allowed to expand. For a ‘combined heat and power’ facility they’ve delivered less power than promised, and no heat at all.”
Other residents have voiced concerns over the impact of the incinerator on air quality. Mo Ali, 30, who lives in Moorhead Close half a mile from the facility with his partner and three-year-old daughter said: “It’s a definite concern for the health of my daughter and I’ve got another child on the way today.”
The application has been submitted to Cardiff Council planning authority and a decision will be made in the next few months.
