Environmental campaigners in Sutton have launched a petition in an 11th-hour effort to persuade the Environment Agency to refuse Viridor’s request to be allowed to burn hundreds of thousands of tonnes more waste at their incinerator at Beddington Lane.
Determined protest: Cllr Nick Mattey has been protesting against the environmental damage caused by the incinerator for more than a decade
Inside Croydon has reported how Viridor’s incinerator had broken the terms of its licence nearly 1,000 times – 916, to be exact – in an 18-month period in 2022 to 2024. But Viridor never bothered to report its excessive emissions to the Environment Agency, as it is legally required to do.
And last October, Viridor’s Beddington plant pumped sulphur dioxide – the chemical used to make sulphuric acid – into the south London skies with emissions of 382.4 mg/m³, nearly double the permitted daily limit. The volume was literally off the scale on the plant’s public monitoring charts.
Since the 916 emission breaches, Viridor’s compliance rating with the EA has dropped from A to E.
Yet an official from the Environment Agency told a recent Sutton community meeting that it is “minded” to grant Viridor’s application to vary its licence andallow them to burn even more rubbish, which will be trucked in from all over south-east England.
But now some councillors have started to fight back.
“This is not just a Beddington issue,” Nick Mattey, the independent councillor who has raised the petition. “It’s not just a Sutton issue. Viridor’s incinerator pollutes the air across south London, and so this is an issue that affects people in Croydon, in Merton and in Lambeth, and affects the air that their children and grandchildren will be breathing for years to come.
“It is not just the emissions from the incinerator which will be polluting the air that we breathe, either. If the Environment Agency permits Viridor’s request, there will be many thousands of extra lorries, full of other people’s rubbish to be burned, driving along the Purley Way, through Waddon and Broad Green in Croydon, creating even more pollution.
“Viridor have to be stopped, and that’s why I am asking people from across south London to sign our petition.”
Mass polluter: Viridor’s Beddington incinerator broke its permit conditions with toxic polluting events nearly 1,000 times in 18 months
In general, the prevailing winds carry emissions from Viridor’s toxic twin chimneys out over Hackbridge, Wallington, towards Broad Green and Waddon and parts of northern Croydon.
Infant mortality rates in one part of Croydon, downwind from the waste incinerator at Beddington, increased by more than four times in the first year after Viridor began plying their polluting trade in south London, according to official data.
Yet Viridor, which generates vast profits by burning rubbish, wants to increase the amount that they burn each year to 380,000 tonnes.
Viridor has been paying £1.4million per year in business rates to Sutton Council since the incinerator became operational.
Mattey said: “I challenge all my fellow councillors, of all political parties and of none, whether in Sutton or Croydon, or in Merton and other neighbouring boroughs, to sign this petition to try to protect the health and welfare of all the residents, their children and grandchildren, who we are supposed to represent.
“When it comes to the local elections in May, those residents will be able to see whose side their councillors are really on if they don’t sign our petition.”
Mattey is having thousands of leaflets distributed around Sutton, republishing Inside Croydon’s reporting, to spread the message about the threat posed by the Viridor incinerator.
“The plan to increase the capacity of the Viridor incinerator by approximately 35,000 tonnes per year is a significant uplift that could have dire consequences,” Mattey says on the petition.
“Statistics from Public Health England and various environmental research highlight that incinerators contribute vastly to air pollution, emitting harmful substances like nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and dangerous heavy metals. These pollutants are known to exacerbate respiratory issues, cardiovascular diseases and have even been linked to cancer-causing potential.
“Our borough is already grappling with air quality issues, and such an expansion could push the pollution levels to unmanageable limits…
“While managing waste sustainably is important, bringing in additional waste facilities to our area could further strain our local infrastructure. The increase in vehicle traffic, noise pollution and risk of odours must be carefully considered, especially in already congested areas…
“Help us protect our community and future generations from unnecessary environmental and health risks. Please sign this petition.”
Read more: Infant death rates were up by 233% after incinerator fired up
Read more: Viridor’s charge sheet: incinerator operator’s eco-vandalism
Read more: Viridor incinerator fined for multiple pollution permit breaches
Read more: ‘People will die’: Dombey accused of Viridor ‘Faustian pact’
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2026, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for an EIGHTH time in nine years, in Private Eye magazine’s annual round-up of civic cock-ups
- Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
Beddington incinerator was downgraded to E grade by the Environment Agency for its continuous air pollution incident from late 2022 to early 2024. Grade E means it’s supposed to make significant improvements or risk losing its operating permit. It’s that serious! But just weeks after their report was issued Viridor went off their own monitoring chart with sulphur dioxide emissions. So why is the Agency rewarding them with permission to burn even more waste, harming our community’s health?
Well what do you expect, with that useless FAILey, I mean bailey, in charge of the Sutton council? you think she cares about detrimentally affecting the health of tens of thousands – or more – people, and especially children?