Londons net waste emissions fall for first time

Waste management activities in London are for the first time saving more carbon dioxide emissions than they are producing largely due to a rise in material sent for incineration a report commissioned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) has found.

Carbon dioxide emissions from London waste management activities saw a net reduction of 67,200 tonnes a year in 2011/12 the equivalent to the effect of removing 51,000 cars from UK roads each year, the report claimed.

This means that the level of carbon emissions estimated to result from activities such as recycling, incineration and transport is being offset by the carbon benefits of diverting waste from landfill.

And, the report suggests that this net reduction in emissions in 2011/12 is largely due to more waste being sent for incineration instead of landfill, rather than more material being recycled in the capital.

Indeed, compared to the previous year, in 2011/12 there was a shift of around 450,000 tonnes per year of waste from landfill into incineration, which resulted in a total net emissions reduction of 88,000 tonnes per year from waste treatment in the capital.

But, while an overall rise of around 4,000 tonnes per year in the amount of material recycled in London also played a part in the net emission reduction last year, its contribution of a 16,000 tonnes per year reduction in carbon emissions was over five times lower than the impact of incineration activities.

Report

The findings come in the GLAs The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standard for Londons Municipal Waste 2011/12 Update report, which presents the performance of Londons local authorities against emissions performance standards (EPS) for 2011/12.

Produced on behalf of the GLA by consultancy Eunomia, the report states that the increase in material sent for recycling and incineration has largely been driven by the rising costs of landfill tax, which currently stands at 72 per tonne.

London’s waste management carbon emissions performance for 2010/11 and 2011/12

Carbon emissions associated with incineration in 2011/12 increased to 73,900 tonnes per year from a figure of 50,800 seen the previous year.

However, 226,800 tonnes of carbon emissions were associated with landfill last year almost 100,000 tonnes fewer than the 329,600 figure for 2010/11.

Consultation

Following a public consultation, the EPS was originally published in July 2011 along with the Mayors municipal waste management strategy, setting the emissions standards for 2015, 2020 and 2031.

The greenhouse gases falling within the scope of the EPS include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), which is emitted during waste management activities such as recycling, treatment, transport and landfill.

The report states that only a limited amount of reuse activity is included in the EPS at present, while it has not been possible to incorporate waste prevention activities at all.