Waste incinerators spew highly toxic PM2.5 particulate* pollution into the air, leading to a wide range of illnesses.

Governments often appear to be unmoved by human suffering, but are usually highly motivated by the prospect of saving money. Studies in Europe and the US suggest that every £1 spent on reducing emissions of tiny PM2.5 particulates saves £6 in national health service costs and £4 in social security costs. The US has already saved £193 billion, just in hospital costs and days off work. In the UK, well over 18 common diseases involving perhaps 160,000 deaths a year could be linked to industrial air pollution, at a cost of some £24 billion annually: equivalent to 40% of the total NHS budget and excluding social security and personal/family costs.

A recent French hospital survey found that 40% of attendances were linked to industrial pollution. In 1996, after the Pembrokeshire Oil Complex switched from burning heavy fuel oil (which emits the larger PM5 particulates) to burning residual fuel oil (PM2.5s and smaller), waiting lists to see a hospital consultant rose eightfold 1997-2001.

* tiny particles equal to or less than 2.5 microns in diameter