Hackney Council has dropped its opposition to the £1.5bn rebuild of the Edmonton waste incinerator. The council, now led by the Green Party, said cancelling the project would be financially and environmentally damaging because the waste would still need to go somewhere, likely to older and worse performing incinerators. The multi-year construction budget has risen by 80%, and Hackney now expects its budget gap to exceed £21m by 2030. Work on the rebuild began in 2022, but the project has been delayed by higher costs, interest rates, supply chain pressures, asbestos, and unmapped pipes. It is still expected to enter commissioning in 2027. The decision shows the difficult trade-off between cutting carbon emissions, managing waste, and keeping local government budgets under control, especially after a BBC investigation described burning rubbish as the UK's dirtiest form of power.
