With reference to Mr. Paul L. Cardona’s reaction (The Times, July 7) to our position on the re-definition of incineration, FoE (Malta), together with several other FoE groups across Europe, oppose incineration for one simple reason– incineration does nothing to create a shift towards more sustainable and equitable use of the world’s resources. In fact, its continued advocacy highlights our failure to cut down on waste production at source, and to recycle most of what is left. Furthermore, it encourages the burning of the world’s precious resources at the expense of other nations and future generations. While we realize that Mr. Cardona is stating fact when he says that “the filling of more landfill sites is no longer an option and we are running out of space in this country”, we do not think we should rush to support incineration, without pointing to more sustainable-even if initially more painful alternatives.

Recent claims that incineration helps to address climate change cannot be taken seriously.

We are facing the same situation with construction waste. The breathing space afforded by filling worked-out quarries has been wasted as no serious attempt to cut down on construction waste generation has been made. So our country is now about to invest in creating artificial islands as the only “practicable” solution.

Should FoE be cheering from the sidelines? We think not.