And, at the same time, the government – through the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – has said that energy from waste should not compete with greater waste prevention, re-use or recycling.
The message came in an answer to a parliamentary question on Monday, 11 July, in the House of Commons.
Government view
Victoria Prentis, Defra minister for farming, fisheries and food – who remained in post when recycling minister Jo Churchill quit the job last week – stated: “The Government’s view is that Energy from Waste (EfW) should not compete with greater waste prevention, re-use, or recycling. Proposed new plants must not result in an over-capacity of EfW waste treatment provision at a local or national level.
“Officials are currently assessing planned incinerator capacity against expected future residual waste arisings. This further assessment of residual waste treatment capacity needs will be published in due course.”
Shadow minister
The minister was responding to a question from north London Labour MP Catherine Lewis, who is a shadow Foreign Office minister. Her constituency, Hornsey and Wood Green, falls within the North London Waste Authority area where the authority is to build a new replacement plant for the existing Edmonton facility.
Ms Lewis also referenced a statement two years ago when Defra commented on an EfW assessment it had made around the Resources and Waste Strategy.
The line then, from Defra minister Lord Goldsmith, was that: “The assessment concluded that significant additional residual waste energy recovery capacity such as incineration or advanced conversion technologies – above that already operating or planned to 2020 – would not necessarily be needed to meet an ambition of no more than 10% municipal waste to landfill by 2035, if a 65% recycling rate is achieved by that same year. This assumed that refuse-derived fuel exports remain at 2018 levels.”
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