Waste not

SIR – Rev Philip Foster (Letters, July 26) suggests that we should incinerate our rubbish and sewage sludge to generate electricity.

However, a lot of sewage sludge is already used productively as fertiliser on farmland. On behalf of Greenpeace, I once examined the possibility of also using it – suitably stabilised and armoured – to form earthen sea defences, as much of it is generated at or near seaside resorts, which are often adjacent to low-lying coastlines.

Dr Bruce Denness

Niton, Isle of Wight

SIR – This country already has a good record on turning rubbish into electricity. We have at least three plants in England: in Cornwall, in east London and in Suffolk (and those are just the ones of which I am aware).

The one in Suffolk takes waste from neighbouring counties, recycles metal waste, and sorts the residual stones, pebbles and ash for road-building, among other things.

J M Savage

Felixstowe, Suffolk