Energy

Latest News Headlines

more news

Energy recovery is a growth area in terms of waste treatment in the UK but is still not showing as much growth as expected, mainly because proposed plants and those under construction are still to start operating.

The simple facts are that the UK still sends far more waste to landfill than most other European countries who often recycle more. The key difference is that UK incineration, or direct combustion rates, are only 13.6% (in 2009/10) – up 1.5% on the previous year - compared to incineration, for example, in France of more than 32% of municipal waste.

It is argued that each year, with the average household producing one tonne of waste, if energy recovery of 25% was reached, then that would meet 15% of the annual electricity requirements of UK households.

For the last 15 years the issue of energy from waste has generally centred around the debate over whether incinerators are safe, whether the funding can be found for them and whether they slow growth in recycling rates. There is discussion about the term 'incineration' and we use it here in the sense of 'direct combustion'. Incineration today implies energy recovery, and the waste management industry uses a range of terminology to describe the plants, including 'energy recovery centres'.

Other forms of energy from waste recovery, including using landfill gas (methane) to generate electricity, anaerobic digestion (usually for food waste) and pyrolysis and autoclaving.

Politicians

National politicians started to become more supportive of incineration with energy recovery, although they have also favoured the use of heat from the plants which at present often is not used to its full potential. Councillors have, however, often found the idea of incineration difficult because of pressure from protest groups, although broadly speaking, many plants have moved forward.

The coalition government has said relatively little about incineration as an energy from waste technology but has signalled an interest in anaerobic digestion which primarily targets food waste as a feedstock. Its view on energy from waste is likely to be spelt out in the waste review due for publication in Spring 2011.

Useful data about waste treatment methods in Europe can be found at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Waste_statistics

wastepack

clubrecycle

Enter clubrecycle