Environment Agency date shows that a record 256,309 tonnes of RDF was exported to the continent last month, which means the record has now been broken for four consecutive months since starting in December 2014.
211,000 tonnes of RDF was sent for treatment in Europe in December 2014, 218,000 tonnes exported in January 2015, and 240,860 was exported in February 2015.
In addition, the data shows that the export tonnage has risen 17% during the first quarter of 2015 in comparison to the same quarter last year. The grand total tonnage of RDF export during January, February and March this year is 715,123.
As with the figures for February (see letsrecycle.com story), Andusia Recovered Fuels Ltd remains the largest single exporter of RDF from England and Wales with 29,539 tonnes shipped out in March.
This puts the firm ahead of Suez Environnement (formerly SITA UK), which shipped out just over 28,000 tonnes last month, and Biffa’s exports of 21,859 tonnes in March.
The Netherlands is still the largest individual market for material having received 304,421 tonnes of material from England and Wales in March, followed by Germany (166,734 tonnes) and Sweden (118,909 tonnes).
It all suggests that export figures are continuing to grow after 2.37 million tonnes of RDF in total was shipped from the UK in 2014. Research by consultancy firm Tolvik had suggested demand is likely to peak at around 2.5 million tonnes (see letsrecycle.com story).
AEB Amsterdam
Meanwhile, export tonnage could also be given a further immediate boost, as the March 2015 figures do not include offtake from Dutch incinerator AEB Amsterdam, which this only month began once again taking deliveries of RDF from England following a major fire at the facility last year.
The incinerator is a major customer for RDF from the UK and has a maximum combined capacity to process 1.4 million tonnes of waste each year across its six lines.
Deliveries of RDF to AEB (Afval Energie Bedrijf) from the UK were suspended after a fire on November 30 2014 left two of the incinerator’s six lines out of action, although the plant continued processing domestic RDF.
After reopening the two affected lines, the first shipment of RDF bales from the UK arrived at the plant on April 1, AEB said, coinciding with the official opening of a new waste storage depot at the plant.
And, according to AEB: “From the end of April, we can once again completely fulfil out contractual agreements with our UK customers.”
AEB’s UK suppliers include Biffa, Greenways and Andusia.
UK waste managers are unwise not to install waste to energy plants in the U.K. MBT plants are cost and environment-wise poor value and the resultant RDF has to be exported because of lack of UK capacity.
Local authorities need to wake up and allow more EFWs to be built coupled with single bin collection and MRFs rather than the multi-bin recycling in vogue in many authorities.