Following court rulings in Europe, the Agency has said that there is now “no legal or technical justification” for a requirement for waste that is burnt in kilns to have a calorific content higher than 21MJ per kilogram.
”We believe the improvements will provide robust protection of public health and the environment. “
– Sir John Harman
The ruling could throw open the door to local authorities and their contractors selling RDF material to the cement industry for use as an alternative to fossil fuels. RDF is the residue produced after recyclable material has been removed from mixed household waste in mechanical biological treatment plants.
The Environment Agency has agreed new controls on the use of alternative fuels in kilns at a meeting of its board on Wednesday. The new measures will be implemented through a revised version of the Substitute Fuels Protocol, and will come into effect from January 2005.
The new Protocol will mean that kiln operators will have to justify the environmental benefits of their alternative fuels, identify the composition of their alternative fuels, make all information publicly available and consult local communities. Operators will also have to meet revised emissions monitoring and reporting requirements.
The Agency said the improved controls, which have been the result of three-month public consultation, should provide more protection for public health and the environment.
The Agency's chairman, Sir John Harman, said: “We had a full and open discussion and believe the improvements will provide robust protection of public health and the environment and an approach to public consultation that is proportionate.”
Ruling
The ruling on the minimum calorific content of the fuels was taken by the Agency following a European Court of Justice ruling distinguishing between recovery and disposal of wastes. However, the Agency said despite the ruling, it was “keen to make sure that wastes which could be re-used or recycled are not blended into substitute fuels”.
Other waste streams that are already in use as fuels for kilns include waste tyres, hazardous wastes, meat and bone meal and sewage sludge.
Agency chief executive Barbara Young said: “With effective measures in place, we can then realise the environmental benefits of reducing fossil fuel use, cutting emissions of key air pollutants and reducing the volume of waste which has to be disposed of in an environmentally unfavourable way, such as landfill.”
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