The Irish-owned company, which is preferred bidder to build the UK's first mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant in Lancashire, has said that RDF should be used as a renewable fuel to reduce industry obligations under carbon dioxide allocation plans.
The call comes shortly after pressure group Friends of the Earth said that RDF should be landfilled rather than incinerated (see letsrecycle.com story).
RDF is an end-product from the MBT process, a new waste treatment technology already planned for some local authorities including Lancashire county council and the East London Waste Authority.
Herhof is one of the companies involved in providing MBT technology to the UK, along with Systema Ecodeco, which works with waste company Shanks.
Commenting on the issue of RDF, Herhof's chief executive David Tyndall said: “It is important that the use of refuse derived fuel is considered as a key element of the national solution (to waste). The production of this fuel will lead to the diversion of substantial volumes of waste from landfill.
Renewable
He went on: “RDF also has a high biowaste content that can be used as a renewable fuel and can reduce the obligations of industry under carbon dioxide allocation plans. Enabling this use is within the gift of government, and we encourage them to do so.”
Herhof MBT plants, which average around 150,000 have been built in Italy, Germany and Belgium, and see household waste dried and separated mechanically to remove recyclables before it is composted to produce RDF.
The company has said it expects to be producing about 1.5 million tonnes of its RDF, called Stabilat, by 2005. Construction of its Lancashire plant is expected to begin in January 2005.
WIP
The company has welcomed the government's work through the new technologies work stream of the Waste Implementation Programme, but Mr Tyndall warned that the UK is unlikely to meet the 2010 landfill diversion target set under the Landfill Directive.
Herhof said that authorities, banks and contractors will be reluctant to enter into contracts for large quantities of waste based upon ‘unproven’ technologies, because of the substantial risks.
Herhof believes that if the government supported the use of RDF more, that it would provide a solution to prevent the enforcement of heavy financial penalties from the EU.
Mr Tyndall said: “There is an opportunity here to address targets under three European Directives, improve environmental performance and avoid fines provided that there is a coordinated approach to the challenge faced by us all.
“We hope that Government will approach this in a coordinated way and empower a single body with the authority and drive to deliver a coordinated solution. Taking into account tendering, planning and construction times for these projects, 2010 is not far away,” he added.
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