DESNZ confirmed the delay yesterday (26 August 2026) in an update to the original ETS consultation page.
The new timeline has not yet been confirmed, with the government saying it will be set out “in due course”.
Read the full story here and view sector reactions below.
Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT)
Wendy Barratt, Chair of ADEPT’s Waste Working Group, said: “ADEPT welcomes the government’s announcement to delay the inclusion of energy from waste (EfW) plants in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
“This will allow the industry, including local authorities, to work together with government to put in place policies and infrastructure to help decarbonise residual waste in a timely manner. The original timeline meant the potential ETS cost burden would have fallen largely on local authorities at a time when financial resources are already stretched.
“ADEPT is keen to work with government on decarbonisation. We urge them to publish the Circular Economy Growth Plan, which is key to setting the right framework to progress this agenda.”
Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC)
Gareth Rollings, LARAC Chair, said: “Confirmation that the scheme will not be extended to waste incineration in 2028 will be a massive relief to local authorities across the UK, which were facing significant but still uncertain additional costs.
“Decarbonising the waste stream should be a priority for everyone across the sector, from producers and local authorities to regulators and waste operators, and the UK ETS could have an important role to play in this. However, introducing such a significant change in 2028 would have exposed local authorities to potentially substantial costs, with very limited ability to control or mitigate them.
“Local authorities are already dealing with considerable challenges in the markets for textiles, plastics and materials containing Persistent Organic Pollutants. It is essential that the final design of the scheme properly considers where responsibility lies and ensures councils are not left carrying costs for fossil derived materials that they did not produce and cannot remove from the waste stream.
“We look forward to working with the UK ETS Authority, DESNZ and DEFRA as the revised timeline and final policy design are developed, and to identifying how the UK ETS and other measures can support the decarbonisation of local authority waste streams.”
Toni McNamara, LARAC Executive Director, added: “The Change Network sessions gave our members a valuable opportunity to speak directly to DESNZ, DEFRA and the Environment Agency about the practical and financial implications of extending the UK ETS to waste.
“Overwhelming feedback from members was clear, particularly around their ability to plan for uncertain costs and the limited measures available to mitigate them. We welcome the UK ETS Authority’s commitment to continued dialogue and will keep working to ensure that local authority experience helps inform the revised timeline and final policy design.”
Suez
Stuart Hayward-Higham, Chief Technical Development and Innovation Officer for Suez in the UK, said: “With less than 18 months to go until the previous January 2028 implementation date, yesterday’s announcement is welcome recognition that the ongoing lack of policy certainty had been preventing both the private and public sectors from effectively planning and budgeting for a future where energy-from-waste falls under the UK ETS. However, the only certainty we now have is that a key policy in the Government’s toolbox for reducing the carbon impact of managing the UK’s residual waste is delayed, so uncertainty remains.
“SUEZ and others in the sector have already invested considerable resource in readiness for the previous 2028 date, including in new equipment and testing in response to voluntary monitoring requests from Government. Our monitoring costs now exceed £1M and continue to increase, yet we find ourselves without a clear roadmap towards mandatory testing and carbon pricing.
“This ongoing uncertainty is a concern. However, the delay is a necessary and practical step and importantly represents an opportunity to progress the landfill bans and export controls essential to ensure that when ETS does eventually come in, we avoid exporting our carbon emissions to overseas facilities or driving waste back to landfill. It also allows us to reflect on the recent EU proposals for applying ETS to energy-from-waste and consider how UK plans can align.”
The Environmental Services Association (ESA)
Head of Climate and Energy Policy at the Environmental Services Association (ESA), Charlotte Rule, said: “The application of the ETS to waste is a critical tool to support our sectoral efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, so we want it to work. That means getting the design right and, just as importantly, sequencing interventions correctly – with complementary measures put in place, alongside carbon pricing, so that the scheme drives investment in decarbonisation rather than a return to landfill or the export of waste for others to deal with.
“ESA members have worked closely with Government to that end, including participating in the voluntary monitoring, reporting, and verification period at considerable cost. That investment has built the data, systems, and operational understanding required to deliver a well-functioning scheme, and places the sector in a strong position for implementation when it comes.
“We therefore see a revised timetable as an opportunity to create alignment with the EU ETS pathway, announced earlier this year, and settle outstanding design issues before the scheme goes live – the most important of which is creating a fair and equitable mechanism for sharing ETS costs, so that the price signal reaches the point where it actually changes behaviour, across both society and industry. Sequencing these decisions properly now will make for a stronger and more durable scheme later.
“The ESA and its members are committed to working with Government through this period, and we look forward to receiving further clarity on the timetable as soon as possible so that industry can continue to plan and invest with confidence.”
UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN)
Shlomo Dowen, National Coordinator of the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN), said: “The Government recognises that climate harm is being caused each and every day by the UK’s waste incinerators.
“In light of this, the unwelcome delay sends the wrong signal. In the absence of leadership from the Government, businesses and councils urgently need to formulate and enact their own incineration exit strategies to reduce what is sent for incineration.”
National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO)
A spokesperson from the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO) said: “NAWDO welcomes [yesterday’s] statement from DESNZ that the expansion of the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to Energy from Waste (EfW) will no longer take place in 2028 and is to be delayed.
“As it stood, the proposal would have put immense strain on local authority finances. Currently, many local authorities send much of their residual waste to EfW facilities for energy recovery. This method of disposal for waste often represents a significant proportion of total disposal costs for collected waste and offers the best environmental and economic outcomes of the current options available for disposing of non-recyclable waste.
“Local authorities have very limited control over the content and volume of waste they are required to manage and have limited resources to remove carbon-heavy products or manage the resulting carbon emissions generated. NAWDO’s members have a statutory duty to dispose of residual waste presented to them regardless of the amount and composition, thereby serving a public and environmental health function.
“Whilst NAWDO recognises that it is vital that we all reduce our carbon emissions in response to the climate emergency, it is unlikely that this policy will effectively decarbonise the waste sector as there is currently no route to the application of carbon allowances directly incentivising consumer consumption patterns.
“Going forward, Government should only reschedule the introduction of this policy when there is a system-wide plan for decarbonising waste which addresses the need for new technology and infrastructure, and provides support for practical actions that are within local authorities’ power to implement. Above all, other solutions which incentivise producers to reduce the fossil carbon content of products should be implemented before any new timelines for this proposal is set.”
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
In a statement released yesterday, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said: “The 2024 UK ETS expansion to waste consultation, the UK ETS Authority set out an intention to expand the UK ETS to waste incineration from 1 January 2028.
“We are aware that a lack of certainty regarding expansion of the UK ETS to waste incineration is undermining the ability of local authorities and industry to plan and budget for the future. We can confirm that expansion of the UK ETS to waste incineration will not take place in 2028 as originally intended. A new timeline will be set out in due course, along with full details on final policy design, with sufficient time for the waste sector to implement.
“As set out in the interim response to the consultation, the EU ETS will apply in Northern Ireland under the terms of Article 9 and Annex 4 to the Windsor Framework (formerly the Northern Ireland Protocol) in respect of energy from waste installations.”
This is a live reactions piece and will be continually updated. Want to see your reaction here? Email savannah.c@letsrecycle.com.
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