Biffa boss calls for district heating support

Greater support for district heating networks is essential to reducing the UKs reliance on sending refuse derived fuel (RDF) for treatment overseas, Biffa chief executive Ian Wakelin has said.

In an exclusive interview with letsrecycle.com on the balance between overseas RDF demand and the need to develop domestic treatment capacity, Mr Wakelin said that the UK is disadvantaged compared to some of its European neighbours where district heating schemes have been supported by governments.

And, despite Biffa being the second largest exporter of RDF to Europe in 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story) sending 191,000 tonnes of material to the continent throughout 2013, Mr Wakelin said he would favour UK outlets if they could compete with facilities in Europe.

He said: It is extremely difficult to find reliable long term off take partners for heat. In Europe that is being driven by district heating systems and you need a long term vision for that to happen with probably more than one local authority to put that on the ground. Whilst that doesnt exist it is going to be very difficult and the UK may well struggle to compete with Europe.

Incentive

Mr Wakelins comments come days after the government published its Energy from Waste guide in which it claimed that it would like to see more high efficiency energy from waste (EfW) plants in operation which are capable of capturing both heat and energy (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, the Biffa chief executive has questioned whether current government drivers such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme are strong enough to promote an increase in EfW plant efficiency that will see the UK able to compete with plants in the Netherlands, Germany or Sweden.

‘If there are demands from anywhere around the world, provided that the environmental benefit and economics are clear this is a no brainer.’

Ian Wakelin, Biffa

The RHI currently supports the generation of heat through biomass from waste, but there is no specific support for infrastructure for district heating networks. This may change as the government is due to carry out an overall review of the RHI this year, however it has not provided any indication as to whether district heating schemes would be covered by the subsidy.

Funding has been offered to councils to develop and expand district heating networks via the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), which was announced in September 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Wakelin added: It [government subsidy for heating schemes] would definitely help, it is hard to see how large scale district heating systems will form without government subsidy. I am not sure the RHI works well currently and needs a rethink with a long term addition of district heat from these types of facilities.

‘Positive’

But, despite his belief that more domestic waste treatment capacity will be a positive development for the UK, Mr Wakelin said that the UK should regard its thriving RDF export market as a good story for a country that imports millions of tonnes of coal every year.

I treat RDF as a product in the same way as any form of recyclable that this country produces and in the same vein that it is not possible to consume all the recyclables the UK collects; it cant process all the RDF it produces.

At this time, this is the most economically and environmentally beneficial way of treating this material. If there are demands from anywhere around the world, provided that the environmental benefit and economics are clear this is a no brainer. Ultimately this comes down to economics. I believe if facilities are built in the UK they should be able to compete with an facilities around the world.

Meanwhile, he also commented that the boom in RDF exports seen in recent years has had an impact on the timescales for the closure of landfill sites in the UK, with some sites taking in less material.

He added: We are putting less material to landfill this year than last because we are exporting to Europe. What we are seeing is a strong demand for landfill from other materials, particularly contaminated soils, for example, which doesnt lend itself to energy.

That is driven by landfill sites closing and there being less overall capacity, it is inevitable that landfill capacity will reduce. Certainly, at the moment we are not seeing dramatic reductions in the open sites.